May's Adventure (Hoenn Saga)
by pixiefirebird
Summary: May Maple has just arrived to the Hoenn Region to start her adventure! This Johto native will have her ups and downs along the way; including an unexpected encounter with a rather dashing Pokemon professor from the Kalos Region! How will she make it? Rated M for content. And introducing a Distanttreeshipping story! Extra thanks to Blanche13 for inspiring me to write this story!
1. Chapter 1

_Hola! I hope you guys don't mind the mess, this is my first story that I'm publishing and its a little nerve-wrecking to my poor head. This is also going to be a pokemon story with people being out of character. Also, May and Brendan will be sixteen years old. I hope you all come to enjoy it and also take a gander at Blanche13's Professor's Secret. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be able to make this up. Disclaimer: I don't own anything, but if I did, I would DEFINITELY be going out to catch them all!_

May's Adventure (Hoenn Saga)

It was very dark all around me with the only saving grace of a small, bright light that came from a screen of a message tablet that was in my grasp. It wasn't too bright, but it was enough to allow me to see where I wouldn't trip over anything. Where was 'where' anyway? Well, it was currently a large space on four wheels that held boxes and furniture. If you hadn't guessed by now: it's a moving truck. This truck met up with my family and I at an airport in the middle of nowhere in the Hoenn region. Why was I in the back of a moving truck? It had been my idea that seemed fun at the time. Of course my dear old mom decided against it, but I said that it was no big deal and that I wanted some room to stretch my legs after being on a plane for several hours. My father had no problems with it; seeing as how we were going straight to the new house anyway. Who am I? Well, I wa-

The truck suddenly came to an abrupt stop; causing my small body to tumble forward and crash land on top of some very uncomfortable boxes. Oh Arceus! My stomach! I held my front in absolute misery for it was going to start hurting in a second-and here it comes! "Dammit!" I shouted with upmost pain. Not long after the halt, I could hear sounds of doors closing and cries of animals while the doors to the back of the truck started to open. I sat up quickly and squeezed my eyes shut in alarm as the light from the outside shined its brilliance in the dark container. It took a minute for me to slowly open my eyes and get used to the natural sunlight. When I did however, my vision made out a figure from the entrance that stood there with her arms crossed and a not-so-pleased look on her face.

"May Maple! I thought I told you to keep yourself strapped in! The only reason why your father and I let you back here was because you told us that you would keep yourself buckled!" my mother said in a reprimanding tone. It was effective for sure, for guilt stung at my conscious. Nevertheless, I formed a defense. "I did, but those straps back there were chafing my arms! And who knows how gross and old they are! Besides, who knows how long we would get here before I died of boredom!"

My mother gave out a frustrated sigh as she pinched her nose at the sad excuse while I promptly jumped off the truck and began to stretch my legs. Man, it felt great to be out of that truck; it was getting pretty stuffy in there.

"Did you at least use your time wisely to look at Professor Birch's message?" she asked with hope that I (the somewhat good daughter that I was) had at least did one thing she requested on the long ride.

"I did…five times. He might want to consider getting a professional writer or something to help record his lines because it kept asking me if I was a boy or a girl,"

One of the reasons why we moved was because my father (Norman Maple) had recently completed the requirements and met the criteria of the League in the Johto region to become a Gym Leader; his specialty was normal-type. The reason why he wanted that type was because it's often overlooked and labeled as the lesser of Pokémon types. He wanted the world to know that there was strength in normal-type Pokémon; they just had to find it.

Unfortunately, Johto already had a normal-type gym leader in that region, so he applied for and submitted applications in other regions. Hoenn was the only one to respond back and give my father a job. Before we left, he went to Whitney's gym in Goldenrod city and consulted her for advice. He got as much as he would expect from a sugared up teenager, but nevertheless treated her with respect as he sat on his knees on the floor ten feet away from her while she stared at him with some awkwardness. I was too busy wandering around the gym to notice their whole conversation.

Despite that, the other reason for moving was because I also applied for Professor Birch's research program. I would have just as easily applied for Professor Elm's research, but there was only one opening and that had been quickly filled. I was in dismay, but soon found out that the town we were going to live just so happened to be in the same place as this Birch person. It was also a coincidence that he was best friends with my dad in his younger years.

My mother looked like she was about to get a headache from my answer, when that last part suddenly made the corners of her mouth turn up. Before I could brace myself, my mom let out a terrifyingly ecstatic laugh that made me jump in surprise. I should have known she would do that, but for some reason it always came as a shock to my system. She laughed like that when she found something funny.

"OH GOODNESS! I do suppose he should consider changing it," she forced herself to say in between giggles. Even the Machoke movers who were taking things from the truck were startled by her strange actions. It took me a minute for my heart to get back into a proper beating rhythm again. To this day, I still found myself wondering how my dad was never fazed by her strange and scary bursts of laughter.

…

Two hours went by as the Pokémon movers helped bring all of our things into the new empty house. 90% of the movers were Machoke so almost everything went smoothly. My mother helped direct traffic as she told them where to put specific items. I went upstairs to look at my soon-to-be room. I couldn't resist the silliness of shouting in my empty room as the echo bounced off the empty walls. When my things started coming into my room, I told them where to put my furniture and dolls. After it was furnished, I sat on my giant Lapras doll and thought about what I should do next. I was getting a little bored. I got up and quickly went downstairs to see that not even two hours into the move that everything was nearly put into place. One of the greatest the conveniences of moving.

I saw my mom and pulled up a chair with a bored sigh...and then inched closer to her with another sigh that my patience was already worn out. It took all about five minutes of sighing and inching closer to her on a table chair that she finally had my undivided attention; although, she was trying to concentrate on the finishing touches of the house. "May, why don't you go over to Professor Birch's lab and introduce yourself. Your father told him to expect you today since you will be leaving and all. He also has a son about your age I think," she proposed to me.

OH! That's right! Months before we left for to the airport in Johto, my dad had told me that I needed to go to the professor's lab to get my Pokémon and all the other stuff I needed to go out into the world. I even trained for it too while I spent some days camping out in the nearby forests of my hometown. Getting used to sleeping on the ground in a sleeping bag and learning how to start fires. He also taught me how to fish and forage for food. Dad told me that most trainers had to return back home or got into trouble because they were unprepared for the wilderness that laid between each town and city.

Aside from that, there was also something important that he always told me. He said it was vital to my well-being if I was to stay safe at all times.

"Didn't Dad always say that boys are nothing but trouble and needed to be punched in the face on sight?" I reminded her with my arms fiercely crossed and my brow raised. From five years of age to the present, my father had sat me down to talk about boys as if they were menaces to 'princesses' like me. He would never go into very much detail, but just said that they were a bad lot to mix in with. Each time we had those talks, he would also encourage me to exercise protection against them. That undoubtedly resulted in me at a very young age hitting the ever-living hell out of them whenever they came too close or smiled in my direction. There were a lot of angry mothers complaining about my violent habits. My own mother tried her best to explain to me otherwise; saying that not all of them are bad and made dad as an example. My dear old father however countered the argument and pointed out that it was because he was one of the only exceptions and never acted so unbecoming. Eventually, she gave up trying to tell me anything more about the touchy subject.

"Oh dear…I forgot about that. Well, your father is being silly and thinks that even when you beat the Pokémon league that you're going to be staying with us forever. As a mother who will eventually want her daughter to HAVE A LIFE, I want you to find someone to get along with so no more of this boy-hating nonsense! He's going to have to accept it and move on!" she said while ushering me out of the chair and nudged me towards the door. When we both got to the entrance, my mother had fixed up my big red bow and did a quick touch up on my hair. I have to admit, my excitement upon getting my first Pokémon was brimming over. I was going to be a trainer. "Have fun and PLEASE be on your best behavior!" she said to me before embracing me in a motherly hug before saying our temporary goodbyes and parted.

…..

The sun shined beautifully and the trees swayed happily in the occasional breeze as I walked to Professor Birch's lab. Nature was one with Little Root town as colorful flowers and vegetation spread out their leaves for the eyes of passersbyers to gaze upon. Everything was nice to look at, but my mind couldn't be bothered with the lovely scenery because I was struggling with the map. Mom told me it was 'just down the road', but those simple directions became warped with my interpretation of the message and I now found myself being greeted by tall grass that came up to my waist.

"Fan-fuckin-tastic," I muttered, now frustration by my own stupidity of having no sense of direction. Despite all that training for the outdoors, my navigational skills were still lacking. I contemplated on giving up and going home to wait when I heard an awful scream. The shock of the sudden noise pulled my head away from the map and looked ahead. In the distance, I could make out something, but I needed to get a closer look. I left the map behind as I picked up my pace.

As I kept running, I finally was able to clearly make out the two very animated figures and the scene that was playing out. There was a person in a large tree while a small black dog was snarling at it. Clawing at the trunk of the tree to try and reach the person. My gaze looked up to see that this person in the tree was a grown man. He had short brown hair with a neatly trimmed beard. He wore a white lab coat with a dark blue t-shirt and an olive pair of shorts. I usually figured that any self-respecting scientist would wear fancy shoes (much less formal clothes) but on his feet were black rubber sandals. Overall, he was the most lazily dressed scientist I ever saw.

I was unsure of how I could help him out. Well, the dog WAS pretty dam puny compared to the big man, but it looked like he wasn't man enough to try to punt it away or something. The scientist in the tree suddenly spotted me when I crept close enough and called out in a voice that sounded less like a professional and more like someone who was way in over his head.

"PLEASE! You gotta help me! That Poochyena chased me all the way up this tree and can't get my bag! It's over there" He pointed with urgency. My eyes quickly followed his gesture to ten feet away from the tree and saw a leather brown messenger bag all by its lonesome. "There's three Pokémon in my bag! PLEASE HURRY!" he exclaimed with fright.

While my mind was still trying to process this man being afraid of a little dog, I had no desire to get bitten by the animal, so I quickly ran to the bag and seized it with eager fingers. Unfortunately, it was a big mistake on my part as the sudden movement caught the animal's attention. Its glaring red eyes now faced me with its sharp fangs bared. I froze in place as my eyes were wide with fear. OH HELL!

By this time, there was no doubt about it that I was now more than nervous. Going back home suddenly became more appealing to me. Maybe it was tired and just all bark. Sweat was pouring down my face as I considered the idiotic idea of leaving the area. The professor in the tree had too shown a deeper fear on his face as he saw the new predicament. "Okay miss…don't make any more sudden movements; and whatever your first instinct might be, don't ru-

"NOOOO! GO AWAAAAAAY!

Completely ignoring the professor's orders, I sped from the poochyena as fast as I could with the creature now following behind.

 ***To be continued in Chapter 2***


	2. Chapter 2

The professor and I staggered back to his lab with exhausted legs. We were both worn and it showed through our dirty, disheveled appearance. Despite what our body language and looks showed, we were filled with relief.

When I ran and the poochyena took chase, my foot got snagged on a small outcropping of rock and my body came crashing down. Fortunately, everything that was in the professor's messenger bag spilled out as well; including three polished pokeballs. It didn't take long for the vicious dog to come upon me, so preparing for battle wasn't an option. With desperate fingers, I seized the ball that had been closest to my hand and threw it like my life depended on it.

It sailed about four feet in the air when opened up and a bright white light spilled out from it and poured into a concentrated blob on the ground. It then warped and shaped itself until all that was in place of it, was a small orange colored chick with the most adorable-looking eyes.

The dark-type came to a halt and analysed the new threat with a hard glare while the little bird took in its surroundings with an occasional chirp. It looked as though it was talking to itself while wondering in puzzlement. A problem I now faced was commanding it; let alone knowing what name it responded to. However, that issue was quickly resolved when I heard the professor's voice. I looked ahead and saw him now out of the tree; or rather he looked like he fell from it.

" Torchic! Use scratch on that poochyena!"

The small bird that was getting ready to wander around immediately locked onto the professor with excitement, but it then promptly turned its sights onto the opposing threat. I could still barely process the fact that the cute little bird ran at the small dog and mowed it down. The Torchic mercilessly attacked the poochyena with its pointed talons. It was taken down in four hits. That had been thirty minutes ago.

While the professor had now showered me with praises for his gratitude of the askewed rescue, I repeatedly pointed out that I was merely the distraction and it was really thanks to his quick thinking that saved us both. In the end, we both agreed to disagree. I also couldn't help but wonder if he got himself into the same predicament on a daily basis.

 **...**

Professor Birch's lab wasn't a technological monster as I envisioned it to be. Instead, it looked more like a fairly large-sized dental clinic on the outside. Nothing fancy or amazing about it; I would daresay that it felt like technology took a step back by a decade. The inside however, was much nicer to a degree. The polished beige tile shone proudly under my shoes as the metallic walls and ceiling dully reflected the contents and people inside. Some were dressed formally while a few others were head to toe in field gear. The only common thing they shared was their occupation and employer.

Computers, complicated looking machinery and bookshelves lined neatly around the lab; save for the entrance. The only things that weren't by the wall was a large birch-wood desk with many things sitting on top and a rolling office chair. Overall, I would have to grade his lab a C+ or a B- at most.

The occupants in the lab took one glance at the professor and I before they shook their heads in dismay. My suspicions of his carelessness had been confirmed.

"I know its not what you expected, but I don't get a whole lot of funding for my research. Not many people care about Pokémon habits and behaviors, " he said with a slightly sad sigh and shrugged while moving to put his bag on the desk. Now that I thought about it, a lot of people cared more about battling them or making them cute pets. That's not to say that there wasn't someone out there who enjoyed unraveling the strange mysteries around them; they were just overshadowed by the majority.

"But I hope that you come to understand how important a relationship between man and Pokémon is on your journey, May," he said with a now cheerful smile as he reached into the bag and pulled out a pokeball. He walked towards me and dropped it into my surprised hands. I blinked dumbfoundly as my gaze locked onto the sphere.

"For starters, you can work on being a good partner for Torchic. You did choose him after all,"

My mind soaked in his words of wisdom. I could even feel my heart start to race at the growing anticipation of my journey ahead. This was it...the long awaited adventure that manifested from my early desires was now going to be a reality! My excited bright blue eyes looked up to Birch, who could tell that I was eager to set out.

"Alright professor! I won't let you down!"

 **...**

Professor Birch and I talked for a long while after that. He told me how serious my dad used to be in their school days. Yeesh, so fatherhood wasn't the culprit of his overbearing strictness. There was no doubt about being 'daddy's girl', but I always wondered why my less intense mother had married my father. Well, I did ask her one day when my curiosity won out. Her reply was that he was 'handsome' and 'old-fashioned'...or something like that. I was still confused.

The subject switched to the professor's own family. He talked about his wife first and moved onto his son, Brendan. This is where the conversation got weird. Birch reached into the spacious drawers of his desk and pulled out a large, faded green photo album book. The professor then went on to talk about how smart, wonderful and 'single' he was. There was some suspicion that he might have been trying to get me to like Brendan or something. Unfortunately for the professor, my father's influence did not allow me to think of him in such a way. Despite that notion, I wondered if I would at least be able to become friends with him; I mean he is the professor's son.

By the time he finished showing me those compromising photos, it was late in the afternoon. He gave me a standard issued pokemon index(pokedex) and my very own pokemon navigator( pokenav). Apparently, every pokemon professor was supposed to give their students a pokedex as they explored the world. Probably so they can credit from a new species of Pokemon they discovered. The other one however, was a special device from Birch's design for better navigations through this particular region. He said it had something to do with a lot of meteorite interference scrambling the signals a lot of high tech stuff. Hoenn had to specially design certain equipment that used a lot of wireless connection for that reason.

"May, before you start your journey, I was actually wondering if...you know...if you would like to travel with my son. I already told him you were coming if that's alright; he's at route 103. It'll only be for a short while though since we're going to mt. Pyre in a month for some field research. But it'll be good for the both of you! You could help each-other out and...get better acquainted!" He said with his voice getting strangely excited at the end. I wasn't thinking too much about his reason for his suggestion at that moment because I my thoughts were filled with wondering how many snacks I could fit in my pack for the adventure ahead.

We soon said our goodbyes and went our separate ways...until I realized that I was going the wrong way and turned on my heels to silently follow the professor from behind. He was a nice guy and all, but he talked way too much for one's own sanity! How was dad able to stand him?!

It was a good thirty minutes of tailing that I finally got back to my house. To my surprise, it was conveniently right next to professor Birch's. Oh boy. I was shamelessly glad that I would be out traveling the region instead of having my ear talked off.

I drummed my fingers against crossed arms as I waited for he goofy professor to enter his house. It took a good five minutes of bumbling with his keys along with opening and closing of his door that I could escape to my own. No sooner did the door abruptly close behind me did I noticed that the house was now completely furnished; wow, those movers worked fast. Looking to the dining table, I saw my mom reading a book. My presence broke her tranquil state, but she turned in my direction and smiled brightly.

"Oh, back already? How was it?" She asked with a slightly different tone of voice that failed to match her expression. I couldn't help but notice that it hid a sliver of sadness. While mom had accepted my fate as a trainer and knew that I would come home from time to time, the fact that I was going to be setting out alone was enough to make any parent cry.

Just hearing her tone sound like that made my face scrunch up. I could start to feel my eyes getting wet. My mom was the one who set the mood of the family. For better or worse, she is what made home a sanctuary.

I tried to sound casual and quickly started talking.

"Yeah...uh, the professor's...the professor is kinda weird. I got myself lo-lost and found him in a tree. He also talks about his son...a lot an-"

"May honey...its ok. Just remember that you can call me or your father you get homesick,"

Before I realized it, my mother was already embracing me in a hug with her hand stroking my head. A terrible lump had formed in my throat now and I could feel hot tears falling down my cheeks. Finally, we both broke down and cried.

 ***Continued in Chapter 3***


	3. Chapter 3

_**Pixie-chan:** Hullo there my darling readers! I haven't decide on a solid schedule for updating new chapters, but for now, I'm going to post three chapters every other week; one each day. So for the coming week, I will be writing new chapters and all that good stuff! Thank you once again for reading my story and I hope to make it interesting for you all!_

The cry fest my mom and I had lasted for about ten minutes with the finale of us strangely breaking out with laughter. I never knew why that always happened when we had a moment together, but I just chalked it up to a personal connection I felt with her. After that, we started packing my bag. I was somewhat organized, but motherly help was always welcomed when it came to that department. Torchic even helped out too as it picked up things I needed and gave it to my mom so she could place them neatly in my bag. I decided to spoil my little pokemon by giving him some potato chips.

"What a cute little bird! Have you thought about giving him a name yet?" She asked while petting its soft, feathery head. The excited Torchic let out an adorable chirping noise in thanks.

In response to that question, I rubbed my chin in thought. A nickname, huh? What kind of name could I give to my very first battle partner? I watched as the small bird darted about my room to retrieve things with its beak; all the while it kept on with its cute chirping noises. It was then that I decided that no matter how much I could think, only one name stuck out to me.

"How about...Chirpie?"

The Torchic stopped what it was doing and looked at me. Its eyes full of confusion at the suggested nickname. I called it again.

"Come over here Chirpie!"

This time, it responded as it carefully inched its way towards me. It looked a little unsure that I was calling it. I smiled when it came near my lap and stroked its head as incentive. "That's a good boy! Chirpie it is!"

 **...**

Mom and I were just outside the house with my things securely in my bag. Chirpie was inside its pokeball. The sun was an hour away from setting and I was instructed to at least spend the first night at a Pokémon center. I was more than prepared to sleep under the stars, but mom insisted since it was going to be dark soon. Its seems that no matter how much I trained, I'll always be horribly unprepared in her eyes. Yeesh, I wasn't like the clumsy professor; that guy didn't have a clue about surviving in the wilderness.

"I'm sorry your father couldn't be here to see you off, but you can talk with him tomorrow at gym. He's going to start getting busy now that he's a gym leader," she said while giving me another kiss on the cheek and a tightening hug. That's right, his new job as a leader was now my new obstacle; which meant that I would be facing him sooner or later.

In addition to a trainer's profession of catching and training Pokémon, they challenged eight gyms scattered throughout each respective region. After earning a badge from all of the gym's leaders, trainers would have to travel to their final destination and go through a series of trials known as the elite four. As for right now though, I had to focus on just the leaders. My dad was number five out of the eight.

A sarcastic grin spread on my face that was followed by a stupid laugh. "He better be polishing up my badge right now, because he's going down hard when I face him!"

Though I openly joked about the declaration, my nerves were rattled at the thought of facing him. There have been a few times I've seen him battle; and it every time he was scary. My dad had no mercy on his opponent and I knew he wouldn't go easy on me just because I was his daughter. His intimidation in battle made my palms clammy.

 **...**

Now alone, the road I walked on was quietly pleasant with nature all around me. I wondered if all of Hoenn would be as foresty like Littleroot or the route I was on now. While I dabbled in such thoughts, my pace picked up, for the deteriorating sunlight was a cue for Pokémon hiding in the tall grass to come out and venture around. Even with Chirpie, there was no way I would risk a battle at night with the way he was now; fresh and vulnerable. Yes, he was a small bird who took down a dog with no problems, but still a small vulnerable bird who might have problems with a possibly stronger nocturnal animal.

Fortunately, the tall grass that was previously up to my waist started to shorten until it leveled out into a nice, trimmed lawn under my feet. Then I started to walk past small homes would eventually cluster together to make up Oldale town. The contented sigh of relief came from my mouth as I managed to make it into town before the sun set. I have to admit that the route I walked on looked a little creepy during the sunset.

Oldale itself looked very similar to Littleroot with the exception of a slightly larger population, a market and a pokemon center. I wasted no time walking swiftly to the center. Inside was a counter where a nurse with candy pink hair greeted me in the most sugary coated voice on the face of the planet. The walls and floor were a nice bright mustard color that thankfully didn't kill my eyes. There were two doors that led to sleeping quarters for trainers on the go or other visitors. On the side, there were resting couches. I immediately sat down and closed my eyes.

 **...**

"...Excuse me. Hello?"

I thought it was some sort of dream, so I didn't stir.

"Pardon me...Miss?"

I twitched a little but remained asleep.

"Excuse me! Please wake up!"

Now that the voice increased the volume, I jolted awake with my eyes trying to open against the light and color of the room. It took me a minute to focus in on what called my attention.

A woman with dark brown hair and grey eyes was in front of me. She wore a jean colored outfit and small hat. A scarf was tied securely around her neck. Overall, I would have to say that she was better suited to be a flight attendant.

"Pardon my interruption, but are you May Maple?"

"Who wants to know?"

"Well..." The flight attendant dressed woman suddenly put on a very wide smile and put both hands in her pocket for a few seconds and both of them out to release fistfuls of rainbow confetti. Some of the glittery paper landed on my head while my face didn't look the least bit amused. "Congratulations! You received a gift!"

It was then that she put a hand behind her back and held out a pokeball in front of me. I blinked at the object before reluctantly taking it from her hand. It was an all red pokeball, but wasn't very special beyond that.

"Who's it from?"

"That's the fun part! Its a mystery! It wouldn't be fun if you knew who gave it to you! Otherwise it wouldn't be called the Mystery Gift Co. now would it? Now if you'll excuse me, I need to be on my way. Have a good night!"

The woman took her leave with urgency. I was now left with a strange, confused look and turned my attention to the new possession with wonder. Who on earth would just give me a gift? Why would they want to keep it a secret?

As I weighed the pokeball in my hand, I noticed that it was heavy... like something was inside it. My brows tensed as I thought about taking a look; well if anything happened, at least I would get immediate medical attention. I made up my mind. The pokeball was pointed out and I pressed the button to activate the device.

"Alright Pokémon! Come on out!"

The pokeball opened up and a rainbow colored light spilled out in midair. It took only moments to form into...into...hm, that looked really weird. My confused brain was now faced with the issue of trying to figure out what this floating piece of metal was. It's metallic skin was white with three golden, stubby spikes in the back. The creature stared back at me with a glowing red eye. In my opinion, it was shaped as if it was part of a whole.

"Oh cool! What Pokémon is that?!"

Upon hearing the new voice, my vision quickly shifted from the mysterious creature to a teenager who held a small blue animal in his hands. He wore a white strangely shaped beanie with a red and black spandex shirt. He also had on black Capri pants and walked with white and green shoes on his feet. Short chocolate bangs poked out from under his hat. I looked at his gaze and noticed that his cyan colored eyes had a certain sparkle that felt familiar to me.

Though he had a friendly demeanor, several red flags went up and waved around wildly in alarm. My muscles tensed as my anti-boy immediately went up. My features twisted into an unfriendly scowl.

"What do you care?! Fuck off!" I hissed with venom practically dripping from my mouth and my gaze drilling very threateningly into his. My mindset expected him to turn on his heels and walk away with much urgency. Instead, an annoyed look crossed his face and sat down on the far opposite end if the couch that I was very settled in. The couch wasn't very big either. Sirens in my brain blared as his proximity was closer than desired. My entire being was unnerved by his presence.

What an indecent thug! Boys were truly the lowest beings of humanity! Try as I might, my mind couldn't relax at his lack of regard for giving me the required space girls were supposed to have. Look at him: smiling all stupidly and talking cutely to his Pokémon. Such a bastard!

The blue Pokémon that was with him lazily chewed on its owner's shirt while receiving gentle strokes on the head. It had three thick orange whiskers on each side of its cheeks and wagged its fin tail happily as its master gave it much affection. My own face was burning with the frustration of the boy enjoying himself rather than begging forgiveness and taking his leave.

I was thinking about grabbing something and tossing it at his head when a heavy weight suddenly came upon my lap. My attention was turned to my own little metal...thing that nestled itself on me and looked up as if it expected something. Several minutes passed with nothing coming to mind of what it wanted. Finally, it became impatient and began to poke my belly while giving a frustrated, metallic cry.

The sound was like a metal version of scratching utensils against a plate; ultimately a very painful noise to the ears. Now wanting the noise to stop, I got my pack and quickly opened it up to find anything that would appease it.

"It wants to be petted,"

My head reluctantly turned to the bothersome couchmate with his happy Pokémon. He now had an amused expression plastered all over his face as if he enjoyed my frustration. "Normally seventy-five percent of the time when they look at you like that, it means they want to be petted...but I'm sure you already knew that," the boy said as a matter-of-factly before returning his attention back to his partner.

Under regular circumstances, I would have ignored anything that came out of his mouth, but I gave in as the cries of my pokemon got louder. Slowly and softly, my hand reached out and started stroking it's round head. If this wasn't a Pokémon, it would have felt pretty ridiculous petting a piece of metal. Sure enough, this action quelled its cries and a cooing sound could now be heard. I sighed with upmost relief, but now I had to thank the arrogant brat for helping me. Geez, as if it wasn't a chore enough already to sit next to him; now I had to speak to him!

"...thanks,"

"Oh, what's this? The almighty mystery trainer is thanking me? Well, its no problem at all. I have dabbled a bit with Pokémon studies on their behaviors and habitats. My dad's a professor in that field,"

My eyes suddenly widened from surprise as an image of the goofy professor flashed through my mind. I then quickly shot up with my Pokémon from the couch; the creature huffing in dissapointment from my ceasing of the petting. My shocked sight couldn't help but stare at the boy with new eyes. No...NO,NO, NO! Don't tell me!

"Are you Brendan Birch?"

"Yep since the last time I checked. Why? Are you one of my ever adoring fans?"

I was very tempted to hit him at that moment.

"...No. Your dad told me to come find you," I replied as the corner of my mouth slightly turned up at remembering the shown baby photos and Birch's need to pitch how great his son was. The boy in question definitely widened his eyes at the smile and then facepalmed himself. He knew that I knew what the professor showed me.

The boy got up and set his Pokémon on the couch as he tried to redeem himself from his father's indirect embarrassment.

"So...you must be May Maple. My dad told me you were supposed meet me on route 103, but didn't show up. I should have figured that a girl would take forever getting ready. Eh, at least we met up here,"

Brendan then walked over and put a hearty hand on my shoulder. A confident grin spread out on his face. "Finally! We can start our journey to be the very best! Train, explore and battle our way! Are you with me May Ma-"BAM!

He never got to finish his speech. That was because his ecstatic, fired up features were greeted by my furious fist that knocked him out cold on the floor.

 **...**

Meanwhile in a lab far, far away...

 _The footsteps of a well-dressed woman echoed throughout the dark lab as she tried to reach the elevator. She felt nervous but was determined to reach her destination. Before she could advance any further, a hand roughly grabbed her shoulder and turned the person around. The young lady jumped in surprise, but the fright subsided as she could make out a woman who looked slightly older than her._

 _"What are you doing here?! Wait, don't answer that...its him...isn't it?" she growled with her brows furrowed with disgust. Those glaring brown eyes reflected vibrantly under her rectangle shaped glasses. Her black, curly hair was restrained by a simple rubber band that was tied in a ponytail. She wore a lab coat with a simple black dress and penny loafers._

 _The intruder lost her nerve as she became confused and nervous. "H-he told me to meet him tonight last week,"_

 _The woman still had her hard glare but let go. She then adjusted her glasses. "Sorry to break it to ya, but he left the region the day before yesterday for research. I think its better that you didn't meet him anyway. My employer is a disgusting animal who has no shame," At that moment, a gleam fell over her spectacles and a confident hand was put over her heart._

 _"As long as I work here, it is my sovereign duty as a woman to protect the chastity of innocent maidens who are lured here by my shameless boss! You miss, have just dodged a bullet! I suggest that you go home now and NEVER return,"_

 _This strangely enthusiastic lecture had made the younger lady just nod and swiftly retreat from the lab; leaving the employee on her own._

 _Despite the victory, she had a serious look on her face as she picked up her employer's paperwork._

 _"Arceus help those who I am unable to reach," she said to herself as she looked upon the student forms of Brendan Birch and May Maple._

 ***continued in chapter 4***


	4. Chapter 4

_"Boys are nothing but trouble and need to get punched in the face!"_

 _"Really? Who says that?"_

 _"My daddy,"_

 _"What about those fairy tale princes you told me you adore so much?"_

 _"My daddy says they don't exist!"_

 _"I see...and do you always believe everything he tells you?"_

 _"YES! Daddy never lies to me!"_

 _"My, my. Such a ruffled fletching you are...well then, what do you think about me?"_

 **...**

The next morning, Brendan was nursing the black eye I gave him last night. The nurse thought I was insane. On my part, I thought it was entirely appropriate of a punishment for daring such a brazen act of touching my shoulder. Surprisingly, he didn't bear any grudges or hate against me...well there was me finding him punching a tree in the morning and averting my gaze. However, it quickly subsided as we got into the day; for I was to learn about 'the art of capturing Pokémon'.

When we got into the path for Petalburg City, he explained that I should start building a team to use in battle. He then gave me six pokeballs and dove into the thick grass to demonstrate on how it should be done. It had taken some time, but Brendan found a tan and brown raccoon-like creature that boldly approached him. He sent out his blue Pokémon (which I now identified as mudkip; though he called her Kippie) to weaken it. In addition, Brendan also whipped out his pokedex to monitor the health and attacks of his Pokémon as well as the opponent's.

Kippie shot into action as it tackled the animal and stepped back to observe the damage. The opponent retaliated by kicking up dirt in Kippie's face. It growled with irritation of getting hit by such a dirty trick, but remained firm. "Come on, Kippie! Daddy believes in you!"

The battle wore on and it looked close, but Kippie managed to weaken the wild raccoon enough without making it faint. That was Brendan's cue to grab an empty pokeball and throw it. The device hit the Pokémon and sucked it inside. It was funny that I didn't think too much of it back then, but the fact that such a small, round technological wonder could suck in anything much bigger than the said device boggled my mind. Who even thought about inventing something like that anyway?

Back to the battle, the pokeball rolled around as the animal inside fought to break free. We both watched nervously; I was sure that Brendan's face was sweating. The ball suddenly came to a stop and a clicking noise was heard.

Brendan gave out a short laugh of victory as Kippie rolled the captured Pokemon's ball towards its master. He happily retrieved it and rewarded his mudkip with a head scratch and clipped it onto his belt. "See? That easy. Now go find some Pokémon before we get to the city. There's probably trainers on the road who have Pokémon with better advantages against Chirpie and Beldum," he instructed while picking out some blades of grass from his hat before plunging back into the grass again. Still uncomfortable with his presence, I sought out my own spot and went right in.

 **...**

Brendan and I came back up from the thick vegetation and emptied our shoes. The both of us were covered in dirt and grass stains. The newly added sixth Pokémon skitty was safely clipped onto my belt. Brendan's recently captured whismur was in the trainer's clutches. We battled and captured Pokémon like it was a competition.

After Brendan captured his zigzagoon, I caught myself three more pokemon. A wingull that took away the occasional homesickness of my old hometown, a poochyena that was a magical reminder of how I first started my adventure, and a spunky wrumple that scared the hell out of Brendan when it landed on his head from an overhanging branch. While, my traveling companion was in dismay from only capturing a lotad, he made up for it in battle with his taught knowledge of type match-ups. I just barely won my matches and that frustrated me.

We got to Petalburg City and quickly discovered how not much different it was from Littleroot and Oldale. The atmosphere was also calm and homely. Sure, there were more homes and stores as well as a gym, but not enough of it stood out to be truly called a city. To add to the disappointment, my dad wasn't free to talk with me. He was currently being challenged by a trainer. I could almost swear that Brendan sighed with relief at the revelation.

We then marched onto the Petalburg woods and saved a scientist from a stupidly dressed thug from a gang that called themselves 'Team Magma'. It was hard to believe that someone would be willing to wear a sweater onsie out in public like that. Anyway, I battled the dork and beat him with no hint of mercy; thus letting me have the honor of sucker-punching him in the stomach and taking his wallet. I suggested a very violent punishment for the thug, but Brendan's choice of just tying him to a tree won out. The scientist we saved worked for a large company in Hoenn known as 'Devon corp.'. As a show of his appreciation, he gave the two of us great balls. They were supposed to work better than normal ones, but I was planning on saving them for later. He thanked us once again before going on his way.

Rustboro City could definitely be called a city in my opinion. While it wasn't crazy busy like a normal city, the uniqueness was there! The cobblestone brick floor was the colors of cream and light tan while gates and lamps decorated the streets. There was even a trainer school, Devon corp. (like the scientist mentioned) and a gym!

I was about to high-tail it to challenge the leader, but Brendan quickly halted me and suggested that we catch more Pokémon first. That was many hours ago and the sun was now settling down into the horizon. Right now everything ached and I yearned for rest.

"Oh man, I'm beat,"

My gaze slowly went to my travel companion who laid flat on the ground and took off his sweaty hat. I merely grunted in agreement while my body was hunched in a lazy way. Traveling with Brendan became slightly more tolerable the more we talked and explored. He never tried touching me after I decked him, but when he walked by my side, his shoulders were loose and his manner of stride was laid-back. Hm, maybe I could allow him to be my friend.

Suddenly a loud, ringing sound interrupted the restful silence. Brendan gave out a loud groan; annoyed that the source of the sound was coming from his pokenav. He fished out the device with tired fingers and inspected it. The heavy lids blinked wearily and his brows became furrowed. "What is it?" I asked while forcing my sore body to move.

Brendan put the pokenav back in his pocket and made himself sit up. "My dad just texted me. He said that we need to get back to the lab," he replied while getting his things together. I raised my own brow in confusion. "...Right now?"

He didn't turn my way as he packed, but continued to talk. "Remember, this is my dad we're talking about. And if you were trapped with him for a few hours while he talked away about everything, then imagine what would happen if we don't get to the lab as soon as possible. My mother tried ignoring his texts one time and she nearly lost it. Trust me when I say: 'let's get there quick',"

 **...**

The amazing colors of lavender, orange a pink streaked across the sky over Littleroot town. If I would have to say what I loved to gaze at in the sky the most, it would have to be sunrises. I would have happily enjoyed the emerging dawn if I had not been excessively worn to the bone and groggy. Not even two days into the journey and we were back where we started! Brendan was in the same shape as myself as he walked to keep in pace with me. The pokenav was constantly ringing off the hook. He didn't bother to answer it.

Also by our sides were skitty and whismur, for they served as much needed protection. It was also because Brendan said that professor Elm discovered that walking with Pokémon established better relationships between them and their trainers. Whismur kept shyly in pace with his master's leg while skitty would occasionally walk ahead to get a good look around ahead before returning to me. If anything, we were protecting them.

When we reached the lab, my travel partner looked back at me as he went for the automatic door. "After we hear what he says, I am so gonna kill him,"

There was no doubt that I was thinking the same thing. In any case, the sooner was for the better. Skitty and I walked towards the duo and went in first. What was so important anyway? If this was something stupid, I was gonna plant my foot firmly up-"Hey kids! Glad you made it!"

Professor Birch's voice cut into my angry thoughts as he greeted us with a tone more chipper than what I heard from the first time I met him. Brendan barely got through the door when the professor grabbed him and planted his feet next to me. The silly man looked so excited that he might burst where he stood. His son however, didn't share his enthusiasm.

"What is it dad? We were kinda busy trying to fill YOUR pokedex," he said with obvious dark circles under his eyes. The professor in question didn't answer immediately, but pushed us towards his desk.

"I know, but the funniest thing happened! Not long after you two left, I got a call from an old colleague at the Hoenn airport . He said he wanted to compare his research with mine!"

"That sounds exciting and all professor, but why did you call us over here when you could have just easily texted that to us?"

"It is because, my darling child, I had respectfully requested him to,"

My heart nearly jumped out of its ribcage from the surprise of hearing a new voice cutting into the conversation. It sounded...soft and warm; though thick with a foreign accent. Brendan had too had been shocked as both of our gazes left Birch and went to his desk.

The voice in question belonged to the person who sat in the professor's chair. His face was covered by a book he held up with his long, pale fingers, but I could see his tousled jet black hair messily sticking out. He used his other hand to turn the page on the current object of interest.

I lost my voice due to the mysterious man's presence, but Brendan found his. Looking back now, I could see why. "We're flattered, but the two of us are kinda busy. May and I just got to Rustboro and planned on challenging the gym the day after tomorrow," he said with a hint of irritation in his voice. The newcomer merely gave out a short laugh as he stood up and put down the book.

OH! OH MY ARCEUS! My face became hot and I could feel it turn an uncomfortable red as I struggled with trying to keep myself from freaking out in the midst of the male company. How could this man be a fucking scientist nerd?! He wasn't overweight or old and didn't even wear any glasses! Hell, he resembled more of those prince charming guys that I used to read about in my retarded fairy tales book; the one that I found burned in a pile of ashes in the fireplace one day when I came back from running errands with mom.

His ocean blue eyes glittered with amusement while they inspected Brendan and I. His dark locks framed that undescribably wonderful face of his with small beginning of beard stubs poking out of this chin. He wore a lab coat with the collar of his ultramarine blue silk shirt sticking out. I noticed that the first button of it was undone. His black slacks was without a single wrinkle and his brown Italian style shoes hadn't a single scuff on them. Despite those unique features, the one that stuck out the most to me was his smile. His smile that was so amazing and enchanting that I felt that I was going to keel over and die!

"You must forgive me, dear boy. Your father spoke highly of the both of you, that I just had to see for myself,"

He came around the desk and stood in front of us; making Brendan and I not only intimidated by his appearance, but also his height. Birch's son tried to speak up, but his proximity was too uncomfortable to find any words. As for me, I was lucky to still be standing!

Those teasing eyes of his focused on me and smiled more prominently. "I am Professor Sycamore! I have come very far from the Kalos region to study the relationship between Pokémon habits and behaviors with theories of mega evolution!"

At that moment, he gently took my hand with the grasp of his and kissed the top of it. My skin tingled and felt so numb from the touch of his lips that I thought my arm would fall off. "I sincerely hope that we can work together more often in the future..."

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up and my knees shook. I quickly snatched my hand away and turned my back on him with an extremely flushed face and wide eyes. I tried to think of what dad would say in this sort of situation. Some sort of parental wisdom that was useful for me to use! I racked my brain, but nothing came to mind. Professor Sycamore let out a cheerful laugh as Brendan sweated with nervousness. A nervousness that I would punch the professor. Fortunately, that had not been the case.

"Why what a shy little girl! I hope that I didn't scare your poor nerves! It is customary to greet beautiful women in such a fashion where I come from,"

Professor Birch looked uncomfortable by professor Sycamore's gesture. He tried to change the subject by clearing his throat, but all it did was make things more awkward.

At that moment, skitty curiously walked up to the tall professor's shoes and sniffed at them. Sycamore looked down at my Pokémon with interest and smiled before kneeling down to stroke behind her ears. Skitty purred and moved her head to make sure he got every spot that needed petting.

I had eventually given up on how to respond to such a brazen act when I turned around to see my Pokémon under instant enchantment from his touch. Skitty you traitor! How could you be swayed like that?! But then again, how could I judge her? This guy was a Pokémon expert. There was also those features he had...and his strange, bewitching grip. However, it felt taboo to just think about it.

The only thing that could be heard in the awkward silence was Skitty's purring until Brendan finally changed the subject. "So...how long are you staying? I'm only asking because my dad and I are going to Mt. Pyre for field research in a month,"

Sycamore was very engaged with giving skitty a ball of red thread and watching her play with it to turn his head towards Brendan. It almost looked as though he was inconvenienced by the question. He gave a light sigh and replied back. "Oh, so you planned an excursion with your father? I had no idea! But one does beg the question of wondering who miss May would travel with when you are absent from her presence,"

"May's a big girl. She'll be okay without anyone for a while,"

"A while?! Such a long time for a cute, innocent maiden to be all by lonesome!"

"You both know that I'm standing right here, don't you?"

I managed to keep my eyes trained on the far end of the lab wall to prevent myself from getting caught up in his gaze. If I could just keep it together, I would be able to make it out of the lab conscious.

"But of course! How inconsiderate of us as to ignore the young lady's radiant presence! Tell me miss May, what would you have us do?"

My eyes remained locked to where they were as I searched for an answer. All those months of training beforehand already prepared me to rough it alone, but from spending some time under guidance was very helpful too. I wanted to think seriously about the decision, but my head was throbbing from lack of rest. It was then that Professor Birch stepped into the conversation, but what he suggested was definitely something that would be my last choice.

"How about...going with Professor Sycamore, May? That way, you can get help when you need it. Since Brendan will be with me during the trip, it'll be fair for the four of us. I'm sure he wouldn't want to be holed up in the lab all day anyway,"

My body violently flinched at the proposal. The thought of traveling with that guy was unappealing; even if it was temporary! There wouldn't be a way to focus on anything with him lurking behind my every step! Brendan shared my discomfort as he stared at his father in disbelief after stealing a glance at a now naively excited Sycamore and a perplexed me.

"Dad, you can't be serious. I don't think-"

"What a wonderful idea! To think that you would allow me to shadow one of your students! I am deeply grateful!"

My face started to sweat at the well dressed professor's approval of the suggestion. Before I could move, walk away or attempt to plead my opinion, Sycamore was already upon me with his hands firmly planted on my bare shoulders. The numbness caused by his heated touch rendered me helpless while I turned a cherry red. Why the hell couldn't I do anything?!

"I will be very careful as to keep this little birdie safe from harm when we start. In addition, as you have said, I shall aid miss May with my knowledge to the best of my abilities. What do you say, dear?" He asked as his head bowed down close by my face to hear a reply.

I started shake as he kept his hold on me. I was also unable to answer the question as all three of them had looked to me. Finally after a few seconds, I couldn't take it anymore and fainted right there on the lab floor.

 ***continued in chapter five***


	5. Chapter 5

After some time…

Brendan and I waited just outside Professor Birch's lab as he finished packing up his jeep. Professor Sycamore was also there as he and Birch signed many documents on the hood of the car. The former looked very excited as his colleague finished up going through the large packet of papers. I asked Brendan what that was all about, and he replied that for liability purposes, Professor Sycamore was going to be my temporary acting tutor since he was so insistent upon it. I have to say it all felt weird getting passed off from one Professor to another; even if it was just for a while. I had just gotten to know him since I barely saw him most of the time. Maybe it was because I was with his son more.

A month before their planned trip, the two of us (after the fainting episode) went back to Rustboro City to and earned our Stone badges. The victory for Brendan had been easy since his mudkip watered down all of Roxanne's rock-type Pokémon. As for me…it was effortless! I found out that that rock-types suck against steel Pokémon and milked the advantage for all it was worth! We celebrated that night with hearty bowls of ramen from a local shop. Beldum ate most of mine. For a floating piece of metal with no mouth, it sure had a big appetite. The next day, we thwarted another Team Magma flunkie who stole some goods from the Devon Corporation and tried to use an old sailor's wingull as a hostage. His cowardly actions made it easier to punch him in the face and relieve him of his wallet. After we secured the stolen items, the two of us went to the Devon Corporation where he president had thanked us. Strangely enough, he also asked if we could deliver them to a man who called himself Captain Stern in Slateport. Naturally, it was entrusted to me because the more responsible of the small party was going to be at Mt. Pyre before the city could be reached.

Brendan and I backtracked to give the wingull back to the old sailor who in return, offered a boat ride to Dewford Town. We happily accepted and enjoyed the ride for what it was: swift, bumpy but fun. Once there however, our happiness that we had was horribly crushed under Brawly's fighting-type Pokémon. On top of that, Beldum had stopped listening to me and thus was the downfall of my entire party. My companion made it by a small sliver of will his shroomish possessed as it took down the leader's machop.

My face was fixed into an irritable scowl, for my pride had been flattened. Thankfully, Brendan wasn't the sort to rub his victory in my face; otherwise I would have punched him again. Instead he asked where I got my Beldum. I explained in return that it was from some 'mystery gift' thing. This piece of knowledge made him able to explain that Pokémon given or traded won't listen to its new owner when it gets stronger unless proof of superiority is shown or some shit like that. In other words, I couldn't use Beldum properly until I got the knuckle badge.

Geez, why are Pokémon so picky?! Wasn't it enough that I was trying? Couldn't it see my hardships? While this piece of news bothered me, it turned out that I had other options in my party. For starters, we went Granite Cave to train and met an strange person who was staring intriguingly at the vast, old cave paintings. After I was confident enough, I stepped back into the gym with my battle ready wingull perched on my arm. The leader and I fought again with my water/flying type in front this time. The white and blue bird glided around the battlefield and wind swirled about as it aerial aced the hell out of Brawly's makuhita. The force of wingull's attacks even broke some of the gym's exercising equipment as a bonus on top of the flawless victory.

I ran out of the gym with an idiotic grin on my face as my pokemon flew swiftly to keep up with my pace. Without any warning, I attacked Brendan with an ursaring-like hug that nearly suffocated the life out of him. The action nearly made him jump out of his skin out of fear that I lost the match and was displacing my anger on him. When he saw my ecstatic expression though, he breathed out a sigh of relief. That night, we went to go eat seafood at one of the local restaurants in the small town. Wingull had snuck her beak onto my plate and stole half of my prized portions.

While the celebration was merry, I was still inwardly distraught over my Beldum's disobedience. As much as it pained me to do it, I would have to restrict its training more than the others.

Other than the two victorious gym battles and a foiling a scheme, not much else happened after that. We both trained hard, gathered items and prepared for our separate journeys. Right now, I stared distractedly at the two conversing professors; one who fumbled with the survival gear in his hands while the other had neatly held the thick packet of freshly signed forms. Actually, I stared mostly at the goofy professor who was to go out into the wild because I didn't want to get sucked into those deep blue eyes of the one who remained composedly energetic. It was silly to think that just by looking at someone, a person could nearly stop thinking and forget what air was. It was bothersome and uncomfortable.

My gaze then wandered around the surrounding area in hopes that I would find something more interesting to look at, when my blue eyes locked onto a familiar sight. Instantly, a cute, girlish smile spread across my face and my sights brightened with overwhelming joy. Before I knew it, my feet broke into a fast run towards the object of my desire.

It took Brendan a minute or two of breaking out of the same monotone boredom I had been trapped in, but his reaction consisted of terrified sweating and a horrified look on his face. Professors Birch and Sycamore stopped talking when they noticed my run and looked in mild surprise. The reactions we all had were thanks to a man who looked to be in his mid thirties wearing a red, black and grey tracksuit jacket with ash grey tracksuit pants. On his feet, he adorned hard, Maple-wood sandals. His slicked back coal colored hair showed the rest of the world that he wouldn't leave his home unkempt and disorderly. Though tired, his dark eyes gave off an uncomfortable intimidation. That never bothered me though, because he was the only member of the opposite sex whom I could shower him with hugs and kisses without worry; or mercy. The person who helped me prepare for my journey beforehand and made sure I was within his sights as a small child.

"DAD!" I exclaimed shortly before impacting on my parent with full force and hugged him mercilessly. He staggered back from my surprise attack, but his face no sign of shock from it. Instead, his tired features allowed him to have a small smile as he ruffled my hair. I clung to him in innocent affection as I had done since I was four.

"After a month of working, I finally get to see my little girl. How's your journey coming along?"

"AWESOME! I Already have TWO gym badges! And I also got a bunch of Pokémon I caught from here to Dewford! I even beat up some thugs with Brendan too! There was al-"

"Brendan?" He interrupted me suddenly as his face grimaced"You mean the boy, Brendan?"

If there was any heartwarming music playing during this moment, it would have been scratched, broken and burned in a small fire.

My father backed away a little to where I could still hug him, but be able to still look at my face. The smile had already been gone when I mentioned his name, but the start of his fury was already showing. His dark brows furrowed in annoyance. Thinking back at it now, I think mom would have been right about dad being jealous about his daughter getting stolen away by some boy; this would have been a prime example.

"Well...yeah. He's been helping me out and stuff. We sleep together by the fire and go eat out somewhere when we're not training. Mom and Professor Birch said it was okay," I replied innocently. To my father, it felt like it was blunt and harsh blow to the chest. I knew that he could yell at Birch all he wanted, but it wouldn't be effective at all. If he tried that with mom, she would throw out his pillow and tell him to sleep on the couch that night. The only option he had available was to take it out on the one who came in contact with me in the first place to earn such a wrath. Dad's gaze now landed on the unfortunate victim and sent glares of hate Brendan's way. The teen who was unfortunate enough to share a friendship with me, reluctantly received them with a smiling, sweating face.

Of course any sort of reaction he would make only pissed off my father even more. While still clinging to my dad, he began to storm over to Brendan with murderous hate in his eyes. But before he got within reaching distance, an excited Sycamore blocked his path of destruction with a large smile and an outstretched hand. The unexpected gesture threw my dad off guard as he now faced with the professor's naive-like expression. Any thoughts of dealing with Brendan were quickly forgotten.

"Good day Monsieur! It is quite a pleasurable surprise to meet such an esteemed man like yourself! Only a month into your reign as a gym leader and you have already built up a terrifying reputation that scares away any unprepared challengers! I am Professor Augustine Sycamore! I will be taking over temporary tutorship of your darling daughter while Professor Birch and his son are out on field research!" He said in a very ecstatic tone. After recovering from the sudden, overly friendly introduction, my dad stretched out his own hand and shook the professor's in a professional manner. Upon seeing the Kalosian, I timidly buried my face into dad's jacket to avoid anyone seeing the growing blush on my face until it went away. Thankfully, my father was too preoccupied with getting acquainted to notice my strange behavior.

"I see. I've heard much about your work from Albert. He's very...eager to have you here," he responded with his harsh, dark gaze meeting a cheerful, blue sight. As hilarious as finding out that Birch and Sycamore had actual first names, I couldn't help but notice how different my father and the professor looked in comparison. Sycamore was so relaxed and dad was as stiff as a statue.

At this time, Professor Birch came into our company with a sigh of relief. "Well, everything's packed now! Brendan and I better leave before it starts getting dark. I'm really glad that you're here to see us off, Norman," he said while putting a hand on his shoulder. Oh right; that was my dad's name. The estranged gym leader that was my father looked back at his childhood friend with a determined expression.

"Of course. I had to rush finishing off a few trainers and closed the gym early, but it was no problem at all...unlike your useless, trouble-making son that I suspect you're pushing on my delicate, innocent daughter,"

The goofy professor just laughed cheerfully; completely ignoring the obvious dislike dad had for Brendan. Of course, he wouldn't stop trying to nudge me towards the teen no matter how disapproving my dad would be.

The time came for the two to leave and the three of us waved goodbyes to the swiftly departing jeep. When they disappeared from view, dad and I were about to take our leave when the professor promptly stopped us. I suppose this is where my troubles really began.

 ***continued in chapter six***


	6. Chapter 6

_**Pixie-Chan:** Hello again, my lovely readers! Sorry I wasn't able to post that chapter yesterday, but I wanted to let you know that I will actually cut down the number of chapters I post every other week. I wanna make I have plenty of time to right so I can keep up with supply and demand. Also, I need a bit of a break from the writing to focus on life. But don't fret my dears! I already have other chapters written up so I can at least try to stay ahead in the game. Enjoy this new chapter and remember: I will only post two chapters the week after the next. ciao!_

I nearly finished packing my bag later on that evening in my room. Sycamore was insistent about leaving town with me shortly after Birch and Brendan, but was unable to override my parent's wishes of my staying until the morning. He showed no qualms about the final decision; he just smiled that spell-binding smile of his and bid us a 'wonderful evening until the morning' before going back to the now vacant lab. I didn't think much about it at the time because my line of sight forcefully focused on his shoes, but even then, his stance looked antsy and impatient.

Back in the safe haven that was my room, I put up my packed bag and took my pokenav to turn it on…only to realize that it wasn't working. Huh? My eyes narrowed at the timely inconvenience before shaking and hitting it a couple of times. Still nothing.

I kept abusing the device in many ways I could think of to attempt to make it work when several knocks came to my bedroom door. "Come in!" I said frustratingly as my focus was still absorbed with getting the pokenav to function. The door opened to reveal dad, who had a glass of water in his hand. Now in relax mode, his jacket was off and house slippers had replaced the sandals he had on when out in public. While his face looked extremely scary, I knew him long enough to know that he only had a puzzled expression on it.

"...May, what are you doing?" He asked with a raised brow, for my hand was frozen in midair with the device in its grasp. I steadied it towards the desk to hit it on the edge.

"This stupid thing won't turn on! I hot it a thousand times and it STILL won't work!" I complained while scrunching up my face in irritation. Thinking back on it now, receiving a rough blow had been the reason my pokenav stopped working in the first place. My father sighed and thought for a moment on how to fix my dilemma. He stole a glance at his watch and spoke.

"Why don't you go over to the lab and ask Professor Sycamore to fix it? He might know something,"

Just hearing his name made my heart start to pound fervently. The thought of going to see the foreigner by myself at night brought flashbacks of the first encounter. Wait, what was I thinking?! I'm a foreigner too! I only got here around the same time as him! The only difference was that he wasn't staying in Hoenn permanently.

"Ugh...I guess. I'll just um...er, I'll be back!" My voice blurted out before running past dad to get my shoes.

 **...**

The night sky was wonderfully dotted with stars and the yellow hued crescent moon hung vibrantly over Professor Birch's lab. Wingull gave out a short cry as it was perched on my arm with a look of interest while staring at my nervous face. I tensed up and prayed that I wouldn't faint like last time. If I did, then it would be all the more embarrassing with Brendan and his dad not here. I sucked in air and stepped inside.

Pretty much everything in the lab was the same as it was during the day...except alot darker... and scarier...and there was alot more soft creaking to be heard. Fortunately the now creepy-looking lab wasn't that large and my eyes caught sight of a bright glow in its far corner. With my Pokémon in hand, I got closer to the source with nervous feet.

Upon closing in, I saw that it was the tall professor himself; seated in Birch's office chair and on the computer. He was occupied with typing in stuff. Already my stomach twisted into a knot from looking at him from the back. As much as I wanted to forget the whole thing, I needed to get my pokenav fixed.

"Professor Sycamore?"

The sound of typing that came from his slender fingers pressing on the keys stopped as his head turned to see a timid me with an unsure look on my face and my wingull that was grooming her feathers. His ocean blue eyes gleamed delightfully and he turned his whole body around to face me. His lips stretched into an amused smile. The white lab coat he wore was off and I unfortunately noticed that more of the buttons on his shirt had been undone. Well, Hoenn was a pretty humid region... maybe it was too hot of a place for him? Despite my assumption, the professor's overall appearance looked strangely out of his usual, naive character that I was used to seeing. Almost like someone else that hid poorly behind a mask of polite pleasantries and seemingly strange mannerisms. Even though I was clearly seeing the obvious, his charming looks manipulated my brain into perceiving it as a simple case of Sycamore looking overly friendly.

Right on cue, my face burned a bright red. I needed to stop looking directly at him! My eyes quickly focused on the dark wall behind him.

"May, my darling little birdie! Pray tell, what brings you over here at this late hour?"

What was I doing over here anyway? Didn't I have something to fi-oh right! I put down my wingull on one of the computer desks and fished out the non-functioning device from my pocket. "My uh, my pokenav is busted. My dad thought you could fix it," I replied while holding out the machine and continuing to prevent myself from making eye contact.

The professor's eyes studied me from head to toe and laughed cheerfully when he noticed my obvious avoidance of looking at him. Dam, why does he have to have a nice laugh on top of it? Why did I notice that he has a nice laugh? I usually don't care about stuff like that.

"Dearest, you are quite far away! You must come closer for me to see it. Otherwise I won't be able to...satisfy your needs,"

The tone of his voice near the end of that sentence sounded very odd; almost like he was insinuating something else. But he was right about the distance however, because I was a good five feet away from him. Nervously, my feet inched ever more closely towards the overly charismatic professor. This slow action went on for about a good five minutes. Alright, just one mor-"EEEK! What are you doing?!"

Just as I was going for my last step, Professor Sycamore seized my arm and pulled me in a way that forced me to land and sit awkwardly on his lap...ON HIS LAP. My insides were screaming in alarm at our closeness. I could feel his warm legs through his perfectly wrinkleless slacks. Why...why the hell did I think it was a great idea to wear shorts?!

But that wasn't even the worst part. It took me a minute for the bare part of my back to feel...Arceus, I couldn't even think about it! My face heated up as the back of me could feel his toned chest through his unbuttoned silk shirt. Even though I tried to justify my earlier presumptions about that matter, my current state of mind now changed into a more judgmental one. Something like: 'Why did he leave himself so indecently exposed anyways?! What an awful foreigner!'

I didn't care if I was being hypocritical at this point. Hoenn was far more familiar to me this...this terrible Kalosian!

Despite my thoughts, I couldn't utter a single word of protest. My body wouldn't let me move off of him, much less move my pinkie finger. Being shielded from everything that involved non-parental intimacies by my father rendered me helpless.

Sycamore on the other hand remained calm, but started to get pretty touchy. From judging him on how his movements were behind me, I could tell that he was enjoying my new misery. Meanwhile, one of his hands took my pokenav while the other grabbed some of my brown locks and played with it between his fingers for a minute.

"My goodness, May Maple! You are so stiff! Please allow me to loosen you up. Pretty little girls such as yourself shouldn't be so tense,"

Wait, what?! NO! There's no way that I was going to le-"OOOOOOH!"

A very strange sound that I never made before came past my lips. I still had a hard time believing it was me.

Before I could verbalize any denial of the request, his slender fingers touched my vulnerable back. They rubbed ever so intimately against my flesh and eased my muscles. As a result, my body sluggishly lurched forward, but the professor put an arm around my waist and pulled me tighter against him to prevent me from falling face first on the floor. As I began to melt under his touch, I hoped that this torture of his would be over with as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, that hope was a fool's dream as I could feel his stare burdening me.

"My darling, I would be more than willing to repair your pokenav..." He started saying as he breathed the sentence in a dangerously low tone that was close to my ear. The way he said it made it feel so wrong!

"...however, it would be very rude of me as to not be attentive to your needs first,"

Needs?! What needs?! I didn't have any needs beyond getting that stupid device fixed! This time, I desperately tried to speak up to defend myself. All that came out of me however, was that weird moaning sound again; Sycamore chuckled deviously at my expense. His fingers that were working on my back subtly moved their way down until they went under my shirt. I could feel his hand groping my soft belly and working his way up towards my chest.

"I...I ne-ne-"

"Hm? What is it darling?"

"I-I need to-"

"You must speak clearer dear. Your voice is too soft for me to hear," he interrupted rather casually in a seductive tone while his face got close to my exposed neck. I thought it couldn't get any worse than this moment. Surprisingly, I was right. That's because it wasn't worse; it turned unimaginably terrifying!

Inside my head, it felt like all of my controls crashed and my body went limp the second my neck felt his lips kissing against it.

Oh Arceus! What was he doing to me?! It was very scary and invading, but I would be lying if I said that some hidden, locked away part of me didn't enjoy it! He was so soft, warm and inviting!

Pleased that I couldn't give any more protests, continued to tenderly kiss up towards my neck; already at the side of my face. His arm that held my waist unlatched itself there only to use his fingers to grasp my cheeks and turn my head to meet his stare. At this point, my eyes felt heavy and sleepy, but saw that predator-like expression on Sycamore features. And while his smile was wicked for certain, I could only shiver as my mind tried to reboot itself.

"What's this? You seemed to have lost your tongue..." He whispered teasingly as his forehead touched mine. The professor's eyes bored so deeply into mine.

"...well, fret not...I can help you find that too while I am at it, yes?"

There was nothing I could do as he advanced. His warm lips just seconds away from my untouched pair.

Suddenly, a loud crashing sound startled the two of us back; more importantly, it shocked me out of his spell. Now back in control, I tore away from his grip. I fell on the floor but quickly picked myself up. My head turned to the source of the abrupt noise, which turned out to be my now distressed Pokémon. It cried out for me as it was tangled up in many computer wires from the large machine it dragged to the floor and broke.

 **THANK ARCEUS!**

I stumbled towards wingull and freed it from its bonds. As I finished, I heard the sound of Sycamore getting up from his chair. My body shifted to see his disturbingly composed face. Goodness, he looked so-SCARY! Very, very scary! Get ahold of yourself idiot! The professor stretched out his hand to reach for me, but I dodged him. I held up my still shaken wingull up as a shield; hoping at least that it would squirt his face with water if he got any closer while I made my escape. "Sorryprofessoritslate!Gotta !" I exclaimed while not giving him any room to talk.

My feet flew swiftly as I dashed towards the exit and quickly closed the front entrance. My heavy breathing eased while sinking down to the floor with my confused bird in hand and wondered how a simple visit turned a nightmare. If this guy got all weird because I asked for something, how was he going to act when we traveled in the morning?! UGH! I need to talk with Professor Birch's and tell him to call it o- **GOOD ARCEUS!**

During my angst, I had forgotten that the lab had double doors. Needless to say, when I saw his arm after the door to my left suddenly opened, my reaction of fright was justified. I jumped back in shock and scrambled to my feet right on time as Sycamore coolly stepped outside with a mischievous grin.

Yep, that was my cue to leave. A five second head start was very helpful for me, because the scary professor soon took chase; barely putting any effort in gaining on me.

"Miss May?! Where are you going?! We have so much to talk about!"

Talking?! What nonsense was he spouting?! Was that what he called talking?! If it was, I dreaded to know what else he called any other of his sinister acts of torture.

Hearing that soft, songy voice call out to me in such a suggestive way made my eyes widen in terror and have a yelp escape my mouth. I ran faster towards my house; praying that he wouldn't catch up to me. However, what made things tip into the professor's favor was the fact on how dark it was on the way. If there were only streetlights or a full moon, then it would have been so much easier!

My heart kept thumping in my ears as my pursuer continued to call out for me. I made a sharp turn around the corner of a house and stumbled towards the door. The hindrance in my flight gave Sycamore the opportunity to close in and trap me. He used his arms to block both sides of me and leaned in closer. His blue eyes gleamed with excitement.

"Well played, my flighty little birdie. Taking advantage of a distraction to escape me," he said while he face got closer to mine again. Those beautiful features invading my personal space. "However, I must quell this naughty behavior now before it becomes a terrible habit..."

Those blue eyes of his pierced my own and I became paralyzed by his spell once more. Not a single part of my being obeyed me as his lips lingered closer to mine once more. NO! NO!NO!

Just when I thought it was over, I fell back...right on top of my surprised mother. It took me a second to realize that the calculative professor had indeed cornered me, but it was on home base; literally. How lucky I was! Well it was really all thanks to my unintentionally destructive wingull!

I got up as my Pokémon flew in and landed by me. My gaze dared to turn back back to Sycamore. The once hungry look he had on his face morphed back into his default naive, excited expression. He looked as though nothing crazy happened!

" May Maple! What on earth?!"

Mom rubbed the back of her head as she sat up. Apparently she heard the sound I made from colliding with the door and went to go check. Clearly that didn't go well for her.

"Oh dear! Here, let me help you up Mrs. Maple. I admit that it was my doing that led you to have such an unfortunate accident," he said as he helped her up. That's right, you strangely alluring bastard! Fess up to your crime! "I was walking your lovely daughter home when I unintentionally frightened her in a state of panic...which led to your unfortunate fall. I do hope that you find it in your heart to forgive me," he said as he turned on his charm to appease my parent. What?! That's not even close to what happened! I frowned as I couldn't believe that for one second, that she's buy such a half-assed lie! The powers of a mother were mysterious and had the ability to detect any fibbing. For some reason though, her powers must have been malfunctioning that night because no hint of suspicion crossed her face. My mom put on a polite smile.

"It's no problem at all Professor! I'm just glad my baby is home safe. You know, she tends to get lost easy so I'm grateful that you were kind enough to walk her here!"

The professor's seemingly harmless gaze locked onto me at this new piece of information. "Really?" I unconsciously backed away in fear that he would lunge for me despite my mother's presence. Thankfully, he stayed where he was while his attention went back to mom.

"I will be sure to keep your precious daughter within my sights at all times then. For now however, I wish you both a wonderful evening. I must return to the lab to repair miss May's pokenav before we leave in the morning,"

My mother responded accordingly while my mouth remained firmly shut. Unable to say anything back.

The last thing I saw before she closed the door were a pair of ocean blue eyes deviously staring back at me while calculating their next move.

 ***continued in chapter seven***


	7. Chapter 7

_The confusion I felt was pretty justifying as the stain glass windows of a church shone proudly above me. Something didn't feel right. My gaze looked to an empty altar and lonely pews that would usually hold people. However, that was the least of my problems; a huge bouquet of flowers were suddenly in hand. What the?! Why would I be holding a bo-"WHAT AM I WEARING?!"_

 _Fear swiftly gripped my stomach as I realized that my usual attire of clothes were replaced by a big and fluffy wedding dress. While being a small child, I pictured how fairytale weddings would go after that said story would end; but not for me! Definitely not for me!_

 _"There you are May! You couldn't wait to get started?"_

 _Oh no, that voice!_

 _Every muscle in my body grew stiff from just hearing that soft, sweet but irritating voice. I dreaded doing it, but I turned around to find Professor Sycamore standing cooly behind me wearing that same blue shirt(three buttons undone), black trousers and perfectly shined brown shoes. Even his face remained handsomely calm._

 _Without warning, he pulled me towards him and bowed his head to come in contact with my face._

 _"Finally! After this moment, I can whisk you away with me to my castle where I will be able to kiss you all I want...now..." He said unashamedly as he moved in for the kill._

 _"Be a good little birdie and let me sweep you off your feet,"_

 _My eyes widened and I tried to back my face away, but fear had kept me in place. There was no escape and the terror was in full swing._

 _"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"_

 **...**

My body shot up from under my thick covers; sweating and breathing heavily. It took me a minute to realize that the scenario was just horrific images summoned by my wild imagination before sucking in oxygen got easier. It wasn't enough that the professor had robbed me of sleep for the first few hours because of worrying about what would happen to me; he had to go and corrupt my dreams too! What a selfish bastard!

As much as I wanted to stay in bed, my mother would probably come in the room any second and drag me downstairs. Regrettably, the covers were thrown off and my feet touched the hardwood floor of my room.

The look I wore in the mornings were pretty much the same as an average person who was just fresh from their bed. My bedhead was among the worst in history complete with dark circles that rested under my lids. The red, over-sized shirt and black sweat pants I had on was though a wrinkle bomb had gone off. I had a feeling that this look would follow me for the rest of my life.

Since I was in the safety of my home and not out in the wilderness, there was no urgency to get dressed. Food would be the first order of business. My feet picked up the pace and I traveled downstairs. When I got to the kitchen however, it felt like half of the blood in my body dedicated itself to flowing up to my face and turn a deep red.

My mother was at the sink washing dishes, but sitting at the table was-"Ah! So the darling May Maple finally rouses from her slumber! I hope you slept well, for we have much to do today!"-that guy. Flashbacks of my horrific dream and last night went through my brain. Incidentally, my eyes stole a glance at the oven clock; 6:45 a.m. What the hell was he doing here so early?! Did he even sleep last night?! How long does it take him to get ready?! As fancy as he dressed, it must have taken forever or something! Speaking of which, he didn't have his lab coat on(he'd have to be a complete moron to travel around wearing that) but he still wore that fancy silk long sleeve(two buttons undone) with the carefully pressed black pants and scuff-less brown leather shoes. He had a dark green traveling bag by his side that was most likely filled with stuff for all researching needs. His hair was still in that same messy black style; I could just imagine the complaints coming from him while we went on our way...if he wasn't going to be all weird with me first. Screw it, I just wanted to eat.

The grogginess hanging over me was enough to prevent my being from getting nervous or doing anything ridiculous. After the heavy blushing went away and I focused on my primary objective, the features on my face changed into an annoyed expression that was purposely directed at him and I went on my not-so-very-merry way to grab the items I needed to concoct the essential breakfast that 50℅ of the teenagers on the planet ate; cereal. Despite the obvious look of distaste, Sycamore's ecstatic blue gaze kept stalking my every move I made as he bursted out laughing.

"So I take it that you do not bode so well in the mornings? Dear me! What a shame! And here I was thinking that I could steal you away as soon as you awoke!"

"Professor?"

"Hm?"

"Please kindly go fuck yourse-"

" **MAY MAPLE!** "

Unfortunately, I was within reaching distance of my mother while saying the incriminating words. That earned me her heavy, vice-like grip on my ear. I didn't know what hurt more: the punishment or the fact that it was on display.

"That is **NOT** how we speak to guests... **IS IT**?!"

"...no"

She squeezed my ear harder at the dissatisfaction of my answer. Through the tear-jerking pain though, I managed an angry frown upon finding the mischievous professor casually covering his mouth to hold in a laugh. Was he enjoying this?! I had to say what she wanted to hear fast if I was to save what was left of my dignity.

"No ma'am! It's not!"

"Good. Now hurry up and eat"

I was released from the torture and sat down begrudgingly to pour out my meal. My mother let out a frustrated sigh. Sycamore still look too amused.

"I'm very sorry Professor Sycamore. My daughter unfortunately gets her unsightly manners from her stubborn father,"

"It is quite alright madam! I am used to such scorn. My assistant back home does not like it when I tease her in the mornings as well; though her choice of words are more...colourful,"

While angrily shoving food in my mouth, I wondered what his assistant was like and why she would still be working for him. Were jobs as a scientist too scarce in the Kalos region to quit? To me, staying there with the full knowledge of his true behaviors was akin to asking for trouble.

About three minutes into my breakfast, mom eventually finished the chore and excused herself to start on the laundry; leaving the two of us by ourselves. It didn't take long for Sycamore to resume his tormenting investment in me. I was seated diagonally from him on the rectangular wooden family table, but he took it upon himself to get up and sit down right next to me. Geez! I couldn't even have a break to eat a semi-decent meal? What the hell was wrong with this guy?! Despite the growing annoyance, a small part of me that had been repressed for so long started to grow in a way that kept me from full on hating this person. I couldn't put my finger on what it was. It felt warm and...strange.

While on that subject, my furious glare caught sight of his sneaky hand already around my exposed shoulder; his fingers caressing up to the side of my neck. Playfully rubbing over the spot where he softly kissed me the night before. The skin being lovingly touched by him tingled before going numb. Instead of giving in this time, I forced my brain as hard as I could to block out any submissive actions and focused on feeding my stomach.

As I finished a bite of cereal, the hand touching the side of my neck suddenly held it in place and his free hand grabbed the cheeks of my face. Shock took ahold of me as my eyes quickly darted to the professor. His naive look twisted back into the one I was unlucky enough to recognize from last night.

"May darling! I am very hurt that you greeted me with such a cold look and ugly response! Especially after I went through all that trouble to repair your pokenav," he said as his voice faked a sad tone while continuing to keep me in his hold. I felt too exposed and he had no shame in putting his advances on me; which he loved doing if it wasn't clear by now.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any scarier, Sycamore crept closer. I tried pulling away, but his grasp was too tight. Not to mention, my lips were puckered out from the way my face was held. I had barely just swallowed my food!

"I believe some compensation is in order..."

His hot breath tickled my face and those light pink lips that belonged to him moved forward eagerly so they could meet mine. ARCEUS! he was going to attack me in my own kitchen!

"May are you up yet?! It's almost 7:00! I'm going to work in a few minutes!" A voice suddenly called out; effectively halting the scheming professor and forcing him to unlatch himself from me. Some cross look was etched in his face before being replaced by a happy, naive grin again. For some reason, I could have sworn that something other than annoyance had been hidden behind those eyes of his. It wouldn't be later until I figured it out.

My father came into view with a bag in hand and his wooden kendo sword in the other. He was already dressed and his hair was neatly combed back. Saved by the dad!

I quickly got up from my chair and assaulted my parent with a glad hug. Though my features were haggared by the lack of sleep, they magically brightened up the moment I wrapped my arms around his torso. I looked up at his intimidating face and smiled really big.

"Morning dad! Are you leaving already?"

It took him a minute to recover from the attack.

"...yes May. And if I want to be on time, I'll have to go in five minutes. Don't you need to leave with the professor too?"

Oh, him. Now currently on that subject my bedhead head turned to the man in question that was still seated at the table with a seemingly friendly look on his face when the question came up. I wish that he wasn't taking up space in my house right now.

"Good morning Mr. Maple! And yes! I was rather hoping that Miss May and I would reach Slateport City this afternoon!"

Sycamore got up from his seat and boldly walked towards the both of us; his smile growing wider. When he stopped just a few feet away from dad and I, the professor put a hand over his heart in a sophisticated manner. Though putting on niceties for my parent, it was clear to me that he was trying to flatter my father into handing me over as soon as possible.

"Since your wondrous daughter already acquired two badges in such a short amount of time, I was certain that she would be eager to reach for the next one in Mauville,"

I frowned at his pushy attempt to get me all to himself. He was ruining an obvious father-daughter moment.

As my dad now tried to peel me off, I quickly held tighter to try and stall.

" **WAIT!** Can't I at least walk to your work with you?! I promise I'll get ready fast! Please, please?!"

To make the plea seem more appealing, I made myself give my father those big puppy dog eyes. Normally I wouldn't make such a cutesy expression with other people watching. I had to swallow my pride and do it if it meant that Sycamore would be tame for the moment. There was a painful silence as the request was contemplated.

"...alright, but hurry. If you're not ready in five minutes, I'll have to leave you behind,"

YES, YES,YES!

My face beamed at the desired answer. I took a quick glance at the professor. His calm face remained unchanging. Not even so much as a twitch of a finger. I was tempted to stick my tongue out at him, but didn't want dad to get mad at me for disrespecting the guest and change his mind about letting me walk with him. With urgency, I finally unlatched myself from him and ran upstairs to get ready.

Four and a half minutes later...

The door to my house opened and I was the first to come out with my pack worn firmly around my waist. The second to follow was Professor Sycamore and then my father as he locked the door. I had also let my poochyena out; she held a squeaking chew toy in her maw. And so the four of set out to Petalburg City. Overall, the trip would take thirty minutes on foot, but I was glad to spend any time with dad and get a little breathing space from the professor. Trees with great branches canopied the view of the sky with a few small spaces of light filtering through. The grass was thick most of the way and when poochyena would stop biting down on her toy long enough, one could hear the distant rustling noises of unseen Pokémon.

My father momentarily closed his eyes and enjoyed the peace for what it was. Apparently, he loved his daily ritual and it could be argued that it was the best part; and how could I blame him? I too had found myself enchanted by the scenery just like the first time I came through here with Brendan.

It would have been great to say that all of us fell in love with the current environment that we were in, but alas, our third member of the party had a different opinion. It wasn't long before I could hear the bothersome sounds of notes being scribbled down, pages turning and finally the constant beeping buttons he pressed frustratingly on a weird device that was strapped on his wrist.

"Goodness! For the life of me, I still cannot get my holo-caster to work!"

My father's eyes opened to give Sycamore a mildly surprised look.

"Didn't Albert tell you? Unless it's been properly equipped, any technology made outside the region won't work. At any rate, you must remain vigilant. Anything can happen while we're out here, " he replied right as my foot got caught on a large object and I once again fell down. Hell that hurt! Why do I have to do that so much?

Using my blunder as an excuse, Sycamore immediately went into action and got me back up on my feet by the waist. Innocent from a third party standpoint; not so innocent from professor's or mine.

"Are you hurt, Miss May? Allow me to perform a thorough examination to ch-"

" **I'M FINE! I'M FINE! DON'T BOTHER!** "

I quickly backed away from his sneaky attempt to seek out the safety of my father. My eyes finally located him kneeling down in the spot where I tripped. A dark, terrible look crossed his features and my poochyena was suddenly bombarded on with distinct chattering noises of a stressed out Pokémon. It looked like it was pleading for something as it made gestures to where dad was. I could feel the gravity of the new situation and my mouth suddenly went dry. After a terrible silence, he stood up and turned to me.

"May, carry my sword,"

"Huh? Why?"

At that moment, that answer came in the form of dad picking up a body and setting it over his shoulder. My breath was hitched and ran over to perform that said order. All while doing so however, he was adamant about distancing himself from me. Pretty soon, we resumed our walk with a more urgent pace. The stressed Pokémon had also followed us; staying by my poochyena the rest of the time.

 **...**

When we finally got to Petalburg, the large party made a beeline for the Pokémon center. Now that we were out of the heavy shading of the forest, I could now see that our sixth traveling companion was a boy. His lively tea green hair was befuddled and hung over his very serene looking features. The mystery boy also had a long smoke grey sweater jacket with a white collar poking out. His beige pants had grass stains on them. What stuck out the most to me was how sickly he looked. Could he have passed out from an illness?

Once we were in the center, my father stepped forward and unceremoniously dropped the body onto the counter; startling the usually happy nurse joy and chancy behind the counter.

"Here. We found him unconscious,"

"Oh my goodness! I'll take care of him right away. What a lucky boy!"

"Yes...lucky that he was unconscious,"

Suddenly, the air of the once pleasant place for healing turned uncomfortably dark and heavy. Trainers that had came in the center after us took one look at the person responsible for the heavy atmosphere and turned on their heels to leave. Even nurse Joy's Pokémon trembled as it held onto her leg; and those Pokémon weren't fazed by anything so easily. Poochyena and I stood frozen where we stood and dared not move an inch. Strangely enough, the ones who remained unaffected was Sycamore, who had that usual naive smile for show, and that green and white Pokémon that was too busy trying to reach the boy to notice the intimidation.

The nurse tried to pull herself together and make sense of it.

"I..uh...I don't quite understand. Lucky to be unconscious?"

Dad spoke in a way that sounded like his anger was completely justified within the normal means of reason.

"Yes, because his worthless body tripped over my daughter. Had he been awake at the time, I would have brought him before you broken and unconscious. If he even thinks about challenging me for a match, inform him of what horrors he faces if he decides to step into MY domain. Now, good day,"

The atmosphere returned to normal as some of his hostility subsided and walked out. The rest of us followed suit. Poochyena resumed chewing on her toy and Sycamore was insistently nudging me towards the door.

 **...**

When we did get to the gym, a few gym trainers passed us and gave formal greetings to my father before going about their day. I wordlessly handed him his sword and attempted to shower him with affection in the form of a hug. As I got close however, he sensed the assault and swiftly stepped back. Huh?!

"I'm sorry May. I know it wasn't very clear and it is my fault for not discussing it with you sooner. As long as we are in this place, you are a trainer and I am the leader of this gym. Such open displays of affection are inappropriate. I hope you understand,"

I didn't. A sharp pain suddenly pricked my heart while the weight of his words hit me like a ton of bricks. At the same time, jealousy also took ahold of me. A jealousy that came from his job preventing me from giving him any hugs or kisses. Nevertheless, I put on a small smile and nodded. Dad's face didn't respond in the same way; he only remained stern.

"Farewell May. Good luck on your journey and I hope to see you in battle soon,"

"Uh...okay,"

Before I could try to recover from the cold words my father tried to make up with, a sneaky arm wrapped itself around mine. The sudden action startled me. How silly for me to be! I should have known by now who was responsible for such bold actions!

Sure enough, I could smell the fancy cologne of the professor's as he was now promptly at my side. His blue eyes lit up with shady anticipation and a brave grin stretched. Meanwhile, I felt smothered by the man; and not just because of his lack of space. His aura...it was too overwhelmingly calm with undertones of something strangely intimidating.

"Well then! The two of us shall be going! I wish you the most pleasant of days! Farewell Mr. Maple!" The professor quickly said before practically dragging me toward the gym's front doors.

 **-Third Person P.O.V-**

 _Norman Maple watched as his daughter and the strange professor open the heavy doors of the building to take their leave. For some reason, he had this dreadful feeling that plagued him since this morning. At first he didn't know what it meant, however, it wasn't until the professor turned his back to meet the gym leader's gaze did he finally understand it. The Kalos native's excited, naive mask of expression momentarily moved to reveal a devious, scheming look that Norman had been all too familiar with. He took an urgent step forward, but at that moment, several gym coordinators called out for his presence in daily matters. There was nothing he could do as he let the two exit and hoped that he wouldn't end up regretting it. Eventually, he would._

 ***continued in chapter eight***


	8. Chapter 8

After departing from my dad's gym, Professor Sycamore and I got a boat ride from the old sailor who's wingull I rescued to Slateport City. The ride like many times before was pleasant. The rushing wind and nostalgic sea salt air tickling my senses. I stood at the bow gazing at the glittering blue sea while Sycamore sat in one of the small seats available on the boat. I switched out poochyena and took out my wrumple, who had yet to experience the sights of the sea. The red caterpillar latched itself onto my shoulder and hid itself under my long sidebangs. Peeking out cautiously because of the old man's wingull continuously circling overhead. It was under the impression that it was going to eat her.

The ride took about an hour until we arrived at a small pier that was connected to the warm sands of Slateport City. My eyes got big with excitement as I saw distant busy harbors of seamen and Pokémon alike busily running about their day. The hot smells of the city's busy life invaded my senses in a fantastic way. I could see the flea markets where people sold different wares. Most importantly, I saw a large lighthouse stretching proudly towards the sky. Hm, did they have a Pokémon illuminating theirs too? Overall, Slateport had been one of my most favorite places to visit due to its similarities to my old home in Johto.

My bright blue gaze then happened to look back at the professor. He looked distractedly at the city. Although he looked as though he was enjoying the sights, some strange feeling told me that his eyes hid a far deeper agenda. What it was had been unknown to me.

It took a minute for him to break away from his thoughts and put his possessive focus back on me. His lips spread into a friendly smile and offered a hand. "Shall we go dear?" He said while bidding me to take it. My brows furrowed and I crossed my arms protectively.

"Not on your life,"

"Why not? And what's with that face? You look as though I am repulsive to your eyes!"

At that moment, a devious look snuck into his features.

"...could it be that you are regretting leaving me too quickly last night and your father interrupting us this morning? It is quite alright darling! I am not mad! Such things are easily forgiven with a ki-"

"I'm outta here,"

With that, I started walking away towards the beach. However, I didn't get far when I heard his wonderful laugh suddenly break into the air. A hot blush crossed my face, but I quickly shook my head to be rid of it. Wrumple was wondering why I was acting so weird. After recovering, my body promptly turned around to see the professor still standing there with a suspicious looking grin on his face. No doubt he had something up his silken shirt sleeve.

"What's so funny?!" I demanded with clentched teeth as my glare was aimed at him. I learned that while angry or mad, I could be able to hold my own without being hypnotized by his strange powers.

"Oh nothing darling. I was just wondering how you were going to navigate your way throughout the region without a pokenav," he answered rather casually while pulling out the said device from his pack. My heart skipped several beats as I realized that I never got it back from him. That plotting jerk!

"It's quite amazing that you can communicate with other people on it too! Although, in the wrong hands, someone could use it to do very naughty things and the receiver would never know it changed hands," he continued; accessing the communications app and showing me the message he already typed up for his sick amusement. My eyes widened and my face was horribly red. Every word on the screen was so obscene that I was afraid that if uttered by my lips, I would pass out from the shock of it! Ugh! What a vile and shameless professor he was! How could Birch admire him so much?! However, the worst part of it all was the recipient on my contacts: my father.

" **GIVE THAT BACK! ITS MINE!** "

Now going off my anger and fear, I lunged for the Kalos native. I would get it back any way possible; even if I had to tear off his arm! The frenzied attack was halted unfortunately as Sycamore's free hand playfully edged towards the send button while shaking his head and clicking his tongue.

"Dear me! You are so ragefully uncomposed! How about we try this: I won't send this rather compromising message to the father you adore so much in exchange for your exquisite presence being at my side. I think it is a fair trade, yes?"

"No! That's a scam!"

"I believe the correct term you're looking for is coercion,"

I could feel my face burning and if looks could kill, he would have been incinerated. Unfortunately I couldn't think of anything else to be a better solution and it looked as though he was getting impatient. I reluctantly walked towards him with a scowling look on my face. Upon my defeat, the professor's mouth upturned in a victorious grin and quickly snatched me up when I got close enough.

Sycamore wrapped a slender arm around my waist and pulled my small frame against his torso as he put my pokenav back in his bag. The anger I had was quickly forgotten as my brain cried out in alarm of how close we were. Again, I inwardly cursed the professor's partially buttoned shirt. My innocent eyes practically burned as they caught terrible glimpses of his nude chest.

He slipped two fingers under my chin and lifted it up so I would be looking at him. My face felt hot from the embarrassment as I was now forced to stare at his devious features. Wrumple was still on my shoulder and curiously watched my interaction with him. Darnit wrumple! DO SOMETHING!

"May dear, what a wonderful student you are!" He mocked with a cheerful voice.

"So compliant and trusting of my wishes! What more could a professor ask for?"

"Getting ran over by a train?"

"Only if you are the one who ties me to the tracks and operates that said vehicle,"

Smart ass.

I wanted to get angry at him, say something else to insult him or at least rip off the cuff of his expensive shirt in defiance, but I couldn't. I wasn't even able to manage a mad face like I normally could! They were only able to form a pouty look; which excited Sycamore into further taunting. The hand that held up my chin moved to frame the side of my face. The scary part was that the side of my features being held there became tingly again before going numb. My eye lids were feeling pretty heavy again.

"By the way darling, you have something on your face,"

Hm? Did I still have food or som-MHGH!

 **...**

The Slateport market was bustling with life as the two of us navigated our way through it. People ferociously sold their wares as consumers shopped at their leisure. The grey stone under my feet was warm as the hot sun shined above us. Fantastic as the sight was, my mind was elsewhere...namely focusing on that kiss that Sycamore assaulted me with. When his lips attacked mine, I tried to pull away. This only caused his arm around my waist to press me more into him and the hand on my face to keep me from moving. The struggle lasted only seconds before the feelings set in and I gave up.

No matter what happened now or what I felt, I couldn't deny how smooth his lips were. How warm and intoxicating they felt against mine. They tasted...so very sweet. I was sure that the multitude of feelings and strangely burning desires that suddenly hit me from his bold actions would make me pass out.

I always saw kissing in stories or when dad had kissed mom when they thought I wasn't looking. Did she always feel like how I was right now?

When Sycamore broke the kiss and pulled back to gauge my reaction, he took one look at the confused, melting expression I wore and laughed merrily at my expense. Any thoughts of a retort were wiped clean from my head by those influential lips. If they hadn't, it would have been something like:

"You despicable bastard! You took my purity that I was gonna keep forever! You better not sleep tonight because I'm going to beat you to death with my shoe if you do!"

Ugh! Why couldn't I say anything?!

Back in reality, the scheming professor clasped my hand around his while I mindlessly walked by him. He was doing his best to make sure that I wouldn't get lost in the crowd. However, Sycamore's efforts failed as the crowd got thicker. He held tight as he could without hurting me, but a moment's loosening caused him to lose his hold on me as I was numbly left standing there and was eventually pushed every which way by the people. My Pokémon who was still on my shoulder wondered why I was acting like a mindless zombie and began to poke my cheek with a leg until I registered it's touch. Synapses fired back up and slapped my face to get ahold of myself.

Okay...where was I? My still sleepy eyes looked around to see that I was just outside the market. Well, I was lost and without a pokenav now; but at least Sycamore wasn't corrupting me anymore. In fact, I could leave the city without his knowing! Professor Birch might get mad, but hey, freedom was swe-" I've found her! My apprentice! "

An eager arm suddenly manifested from the large crowd of surrounding people and grabbed my arm. I cried out in alarm and tried to yank my arm back as I was reeled in. Before I could figure out what was happening the large group of people I was nearly suffocated by was now in front of me with the proper space. There was the occasional flashes of light that nearly blinded me. Wrumple got scared and withdrew back on my shoulder.

"That's right folks! I've picked my future successor as a champion-in-the-works in the exciting world of Pokémon Contest Spectaculars!"

I cluelessly turned my head to a girl who looked just a smidge older than me. Her face was so bright and energetic. Her robin blue hair was restrained into a long ponytail. The outfit she wore was one of the glitziest type of clothes ever produced by the teen pop industry. Part of it looked like it was made like fluffy white clouds. The teen sounded as if she was hopped up on sugar.

"Lisia-chan! What makes you so sure that SHE can be a formidable apprentice with such big shoes to fill?" A reporter asked with a microphone pointed out while insulting me within earshot. I took a mental note to beat him up later. The celebrity smiled excitedly and yanked me in front of the reporter.

"Can't you see it?! The potential is all there!" She replied while gesturing her hands at me.

"Those clothes! That hair! Her poor, uncertain and confused look! She may not appear to be much, but just like her wrumple they all start out common and undesirable,"

I could tell you right now that my bug type didn't like Lisia for a while after hearing that statement.

"But before you know it, she'll transform into a wonderful beautifly! Now come my sad, naive wrumple! We have much to talk about!"

The crowd cheered wildly from the girl's decision, but I barely had any say in the matter! Fate certainly was cruel! Finally escaping one torture only to be caught in another! There was nothing I could do but be dragged inside a red, cutesy looking building.

 **...**

Along with that weird girl, I was now in a large dressing room. All kinds of cosmetics piled the counters where giant vanities with those light bulbs lining up along the edges hung above it. The air smelled like roses and the atmosphere gave of the kind of feeling you would get from drinking too many energy shots.

Lisia busily searched a large, yellow wardrobe while a large blue bird with cotton wings observed wrumple and I with an energetic fashion. Apparently, the excitement they gave wasn't an act; they legitimately behaved this way.

Ignoring the bird's stare, my thoughts slowly started gravitating towards Professor Sycamore. What was he doing right now? Was he looking for me? There were so many things about him that were going through my mind. The funny thing was that I never thought so much about anyone; and that was certainly annoying!

Thankfully a squeal of joy snapped my attention back to the teen, who pulled out a very hot pink and equally girly dress from the confines of the wardrobe. She held it out in front of me to imagine me wearing it. I was very reluctant to know what was running through her mind. "It's perfect! It just screams you! I can't wait for you to put this on!" Lisia exclaimed while shoving the dress into my arms along with several other things. My face reflected the uncertainty I felt from all of this over girly stuff. Though kinda air-headed, she seemed to pick up those feelings. She put a comforting hand on my shoulder and flashed a large smile.

"Hey! Don't look so gloomy! I know this is all new to you, buuuut, you'll do great! There's actually another Contest Spectacular coming up soon in Verdanturf Town. I want you to go there and show the world all that you're made of! Don't forget to have fun with it though! It's not all serious business!"

I blinked at her words. Nervousness wasn't exactly what was coming to mind, but what would happen if I refused to wear this too cutesy dress. She didn't look like the tormenting type, but appearances can be deceiving. So I just rolled with it. "Uh, yeah...sure..."

 **...**

After leaving the Contest Spectacular building, wondered what I should do next. The thought of going to Mauville entered my mind. If Professor Sycamore was bold enough to send that despicable message on my pokenav, then I could somehow plead my innocence to dad with the simple explanation of losing it beforehand. Strangely enough, the decision to leave him behind pulled a guilty heart string.

"Somebody help! Team Magma is taking over the Oceanic Museum!"

My head perked up in alarmed interest from the cry of distress and the name of the responsible party. Finally, some action!

* **continued in chapter nine** *


	9. Chapter 9

The Oceanic Museum stood majestically close to the sea. When compared to the rest of the city, it was sure to rival it in terms of scientific or just personal interest. I suppose that after I cleaned up the garbage taking up space inside, that I could spend some time there before leaving. A nice reward for some warm-up training. Upon getting closer, wrumple and I saw two Team Magma members stationed just outside the entrance. Perfect. I peeled my Pokémon off my shoulder and aimed carefully.

"Surprise Wrumple Assault!"

My arm cocked back and launched the red caterpillar into one of the unsuspecting grunt's face. Not used to having large insects crawling all over his features, the grunt panicked and shouted with surprise while his cohort tried to get the creature off of him. Unfortunately for them, they were all open for my attack.

WHAM!

I slammed my entire body weight on the unblinded Magma grunt. Having no time to brace himself, he hit the building wall and knocked his head on the metal hard enough to fall unconscious. Now incapacitated, I locked onto the remaining target. He was aware of the attack and was now forcefully trying to pull wrumple's body off his face. I didn't want to hurt my Pokémon, so I did what any logical person would do: punch him the stomach.

As my fist came flying, my Pokémon saw it coming and braced herself. I hit the grunt with as much force as I could muster and sent him back. The building did the rest of the work and knocked his lights out. Pleased with my handiwork, I got wrumple back and glued her back on my shoulder. "Great job wrumple! Now let's go bust the rest of those thugs!"

My Pokémon gave out a small battle cry and held on tight to my shoulder. It was very enthusiastic for action. It was pretty sad that there had been zero intervention of the police force. What were they doing that was so important anyway? How could they not see any of these loser's activities?! It had been just like that in Johto! I remember when Team Rocket took over the lighthouse and not a single officer came to intervene! Jasmine the steel-type gym leader was the first to investigate the issue, but it was actually solved by a trainer from a town far away from mine. I remember how dazzled I was when they were forced out. If that person could do it, then so could I! So I decided that I would trample any of their plans if I got so much as a hint of them.

"Alright Magma dorks! Prepare yourselves for the wrath of May Map-OOF"!

No matter how much enthusiasm, ambition or bravery was involved, my short-sightedness was always there. I expected the door to push open when a small pull sign visibly showing on the glass doors stated otherwise; causing me to knock my head against the once spotless panes. That moment was pretty embarrassing. It took me a moment or two to shake off the pain and go inside the right way this time.

The inside of the museum was much more impressive than I expected it to be. It was spacious and cool. The murals on the walls started light blue on top to match the sky and changed to the golden sands, deep blue waters and many colorful water-type Pokémon at the bottom that represented the denizens of the deep. The floor was tile a light blue color to match the theme of the ocean. There were many displays and models of exhibits from different layers of sediment in the sea to a red ball rising and sinking with the water level as an example of the pressure of the sea. Everything certainly piqued my interest; including a dozen Team Magma members roaming around the floor with several people taken hostage. It certainly didn't take long for them to notice my presence. Once noticed, they immediately raised their pokeballs at me with threatening glares. I merely smirked; this was gonna be e-THWACK!

 **...**

The first thing I remembered when coming to, was a throbbing pain that reverberated from the back of my head. Someone must have snuck up on me and knocked me out. The second thing was the feeling of thick rope that tied my arms to my torso. When my thoughts gathered, I opened my eyes to see wrumple locked inside a glass case of the Gigante ship model. A very famous ship that was supposed to be virtually indestructible; it ended up sinking from the hull being damaged by a Cliffside. Oh the irony. Wrumple constantly around the four sides to look for an escape.

"TCH! Those animals! Just wait till I get loose! They're gonna pay for this!" I snarled while thrashing in my bindings to get loose. Whoever did the knots was very efficient at tying. Fortunately, they were also dumb enough to leave my pack with me. Now if I could just get free.

"I-I don't. Think that's a good idea. Those Team Magma guys are pretty strong,"

Huh? Who was that? Upon hearing the new voice, I looked to my left to see two people with my in the corner of the museum's first floor. The guy who spoke up looked like he was in his late twenties. I think what bothered me about him the most was the near similarities in appearance he had with Professor Sycamore. His black hair was covered with a backwards blue cap. He had slightly pale skin with a small stubble on his chin. Fortunately, the same things they shared ended there. He wore a grey t-shirt with some Pokémon on it that was unknown to me. On his legs were baggy blue jeans and had black sneakers. His personality was a bit timid.

His female counterpart on the other hand was much different. She had short cut dark brown hair and eyes with light peach skin. She wore a turquoise and light green top with white capris, flats and earrings. She looked more rebellious, but in a classier way.

No sooner did he say those words, she gave him a look and frowned. However, I wasn't going to pass up the chance to speak up.

"No they're not! They just got lucky with sneaking up on me! All I gotta do is get loose and they're toast!"

Upon hearing my speech the man looked unsure, but the woman looked at me with interest. Coincidentally, they were rope-free. "Really? You can beat those guys? That sounds pretty great and all...but what's in it for us to help you out?"

I gazed at her with a curious expression. Were they extortionists or something? "Well, what do you want?"

"How about this: We untie you and we just follow you around the museum? You won't even know we're there! Whaddya you say?"

I raised a brow with curious interest. Any normal person (excluding me) would want to excuse themselves from danger at the first sign of it. Well, as long as they didn't get in my way. "Uh, sure whatever, now help get this off of me," I replied while showing her my back with the neatly tied knot in the middle of my bound back.

"Atta girl! I knew we could count on you!"

The woman quickly set to work as her clever fingers began going over the knot to get me free while her partner was on lookout; he looked very uneasy.

"Geez this is really tight. You must have pissed them off or something," she said with a grunt as she pulled hard at the knot. A small smirk was on my lips at the thought getting under their skin in the most dreadful way possible. " Just a bit. My friend Brendan and I busted a few of them in Petalburg woods and Rustboro city. They think they're so tough when they bully other people around. It makes it easier for me to kick their a-"SOMEONE'S COMING!"

The guy who was watching for guards exclaimed in panic and I turned my neck as much as I could to see a patrolling grunt walking towards us. Nearing completion, the woman was momentarily broken from her focus and caused her to scowl at the man. "Whining about it is not going to make it go any faster! Stall him!"

He looked back at his partner like she was crazy, but gulped and braced himself when the grunt came close enough to have a conversation with.

"What are you doing up?! Sit back down!"

"I...I really have to go to the bathroom,"

"Too bad! Hold it!"

"Bu-but I have been...it's been over an ho-"

"HEY! What are you doing?!

The man failed to distract the grunt as he caught sight of me getting untied. The grunt quickly shoved the pleading guy out of the way and pulled the woman back. It was too late however, because she managed to loosen the knot and the thick rope fell carelessly from my torso. FREEDOM! I quickly got up and distanced myself from the thug with a pokeball already in hand. Payback was going to be absurdly delicious; like cake.

"Go Chirpie! I know you can do it!"

I held the sphere out in front of me and it opened up to reveal a very excited Torchic. Wrumple, who was still trapped inside the glass prison, gave out a crying cheer of some sort. It was very happy to see its battle partner.

The grunt took out a pokeball and threw it. The device sailed into the air and opened up to send out an aggressive poochyena. The small dog snarled in the face of the ecstatic fire chick who kept on chirping happily; man he was really bursting with enthusiasm for battle. I was the first to issue a command to my Pokémon.

"Chirpie! Use ember!"

The small bird instantly complied and opened its beak to spurt out small blasts of fire at the dog. The opponents' Pokémon made the sad assumption of Chirpie's flames being weak...until it took the attack head on and suffered second degree burns for it. Despite the injury, it retaliated with a sharp snap of its jaws that nearly seized Chirpie's leg. My Pokémon attacked with its sharp talons raking raggedly across the side of the dark-type's already wounded body. It stumbled back before collapsing as it couldn't take anymore. Alright! Easy win!

The grunt was bewildered by the victory and quickly retracted his small beast that was followed by fleeing out of the museum. If all of my adversaries were all weak like this, then I should be done within the hour.

"This is Hoenn now news with reporter Gabby and cameraman Ty coming to you live from the Slateport Oceanic Museum! We just witnessed was a heroic, young trainer who just beat back a Team Magma grunt in no time flat! I'd sure hate to be on her bad side!"

My head turned to see the two tag-alongs with one of them having a camera pointed at me and the other narrating the scene with a handheld microphone. Oh geez, I picked up a camera crew. Dad never was the one to be the spotlight of televised events. He preferred to be on the sidelines where the tranquil peace dwelled.

Suddenly, two more grunts came upon us with a numel and zubat already moving towards our party. Ty looked frightened since he was one of those 'normal people' who contributed to society like any other average person, but Gabby scolded him. "Don't chicken out now! This is getting good. Move closer to the fight!"

I remained focused on the new opponents and Chirpie chirped in a cautious tone as it studied the two new Pokémon. " Reporter lady! Get my wrumple! I'm gonna be a little busy for a while! Chirpie let's make payback a big bitch for em'!"

 **...**

"What a stunning turn of events! New comer trainer, May Maple has sent most of Team Magma occupying the museum packing! Using only a Torchic, this young girl has buried every opposing force standing in her way!"

Gabby and Ty courageously (more of Gabby pushing Ty) followed me around the museum to capture every move I made and word that came from my mouth. Truthfully, they were irritating as they came, but a deal was a deal. The hostages I freed quickly left the building with overwhelming relief. Pretty soon, the entire first floor had been liberated. The only way to go now was up. As I passed the retreating grunts, I paid them no mind after their defeat. The person who I wanted to take it out on was the one responsible for orchestrating this mad plan. They should be on the second floor.

There was no time to waste! I ran up the stairs with Chirpie, trapped wrumple and the news crew tailing behind me. Gabby was filled with excitement while Ty was brimming over with uncertainly. Chirpie was...well he was looking forward to eating after this crisis ended.

Upon reaching the closed doors of an exhibit door, I promptly kicked it open. The scene that was revealed inside had been two grunts; one holding an old man by the front of his tan suit while the other stood by the side to watch. It was funny to think how small this planet was, because I immediately recognized the Team Magma member who was terrorizing the the hostage. No sooner did our eyes lock did my mouth split into a wicked smile. The grunt who I remembered for bullying the Devon corp scientist I Petalburg woods instantly dropped the old man.

"Well, well..."I announced while cracking my knuckles. Noticing the now hostile atmosphere, Ty subtly switched off the camera.

"It's a small world after all ain't it? But its about to get larger for you after I kick your ass down a couple of notches!"

"Gah! Stay away from me!"

The coward half ran and stumbled towards his cohort as he stepped forward to face me. "Alright kid! The grown-ups are busy so-UGH!"

My hand came forcefully against the side of the Magma grunt's face. Making him smack down hard on the floor; diffusing the minor obstacle. The camera crew duo looked a little...uncertain by my choice of tactics, but didn't say a word. I didn't care what they thought though; all that mattered to me was getting information even if I had to beat it out of him.

"Now..."I said while seizing the front of the scared grunt's shirt with both hands. "Tell me who your boss is and where he's hiding or else I'll start re-arranging your face!"

Normally, if Brendan had been here, that situation wouldn't have happened. He had more clever ways that didn't involve physical torture. Without his logical restraint, all bets were off.

The grunt didn't respond; he could only whimper with terror. Oh well, I did warn him. With an eager fist I aimed it at that pathetic face he was making and launched. It never landed however; something held me back by the wrist just before it hit. The surprise of the restraint had been enough for me to lose my grip of the fortunate soul and let him back away with relief. I quickly locked my gaze on the interrupter.

"I think that's quite enough child,"

The person who was responsible for stopping the beat down was a man who looked to be in his mid-thirties. His dark grey eyes were filled with heavy feeling of superiority and unshaken self-confidence; though they were aided by large glasses. His fiery red hair had been neatly combed back to give him that sophisticated look. While his face as a whole presented him to mean serious business, his outfit was a whole different story. It looked like he was the mastermind behind that sweater onsie trend in the Team Magma organization, but what made him stand out was the large red coat he wore with the small team emblems on each side. Overall, I had the urge to give him a swirly at first glance than to respect him.

"So you're the one who defeated all my grunts here. And based on what my men told me from their previous ventures, you must also be the one who thwarted my plans in Petalburg woods and Rustboro city. Despite the mild frustrations I felt at the time, it is quite a remarkable achievement,"

Wait? Was he giving me a compliment? I responded to this in the usual fashion.

"Fuck you!" I exclaimed while I attempted to punch him with my free hand. He easily dodged the attack and twisted my arm in a way where he was now standing perfectly behind me; forcing the appendage against my back.

"Since I have a moment to spare, allow me to enlighten you of what the purposes of the Team Magma organization is about. You see child, humans have been the dominant species of the planet for some time and their ability to think for themselves and create is astounding. You may consider me a servant of the people; someone who wishes to progress humanity. Someone who wants to encourage them to continue to exercise their creativity. Much like yourself, we are both lovers of our kind,"

What, so he was some glorified humanitarian wannabe? That was a very hard, bitter pill to swallow. In fact, I think that I'm choking on it from all the big words and glossy lies he put in it. There was no way that a leader who lets innocent people get taken advantage of by his own men could hardly be considered a helper of the people.

"I'm supposed to believe that bullying scientists, taking people hostage and tormenting old men is what you call helping humanities progress?"

"Minor prices to pay I must admit. Tarnishing my name is acceptable to me as long the outcome of the results are fulfilled,"

"And that is?"

"I could tell you...but your lack of perspective and closed mind wouldn't understand. However, you're more than welcome to chase after me like some romanticized heroine," he taunted coolly before releasing my arm and taking a step back.

A very smart move on his part, because I quickly whirled around in a wild attempt to deck him. The frustrations were real as I found myself hitting air. Chirpie however was more lucky in his attempt as he lunged for the Team Magma leader and latched onto the bottom of his coat, it's legs flailing while keeping a firm hold on the fabric. The man looked at the attack as if it was a mere joke.

"Oh no, a torchic of mass destruction. I fear if let it have at me for too long, I will die from the adoration. I could only wonder how I will solve this issue,"

With that, he dug into his coat pocket and produced a teddyursa-shaped cookie. The man then casually waved it at my bird until it stopped hanging on and had its undivided attention to him.

He threw a few feet away from him and Chirpie pursued the treat. I couldn't believe that my Pokémon got so easily swayed by a cookie; that was too mortifying.

The Team Magma leader checked his watch and adjusted his glasses before ordering the shaken up grunt to pick up his knocked out team mate. Hey! Nobody's gonna be escaping May Maple's wrath unscathed! I went again for the three with up-most fury. In a weird twist however, the boss had simply held up his hand in front of him when I got close enough and sighed with slight disappointment. Strangely, I promptly stopped. Definitely one of the weirdest moments of my life.

"I'd love to stay and talk, but I'm on a tight schedule. Without those parts I needed from the good Captain Stern over there, I'll be busier than I intended. Consider yourself honored to be graced by the presence of the great Maxie,"

With that, he and his flunkies left. The most concerning part from his exit (other then all of us standing there watching him leave like idiots) was the lack of urgency; and unchallenged classy pace that wasn't dared to be interrupted by any opposition. If he wasn't so bothersome like a rock in a shoe, I would have thought he looked kinda cool.

 **...**

After realizing the parts Maxie needed were in my care, I handed them over to Captain Stern with much gladness. Gabby and Ty were arguing amongst themselves about the last bit of the feed being turned off. According to the cameraman, I was 'too violent' for live audiences.

Wrumple got freed by Chirpie and as compensation for being imprisoned, took the little ship model as a keepsake. I put her back in her ball and we all went downstairs. Chirpie happily walked alongside me as it greatly anticipated the victory meals that followed after a big fight.

However, it would have to wait, for when we all were close to the entrance, the doors busted open. Coming through the front was five uniformed police officers with large arcanines bravely moved forward to greet us. Wow, these guys were so late!

"It's about time you showed up!" I growled with frustration at their tardiness. "Actually, you're late! Very late! The Team Magma boss le-"

"Excuse me little girl, but are you May Maple?"

"...yes, but what does that have to do wit-"

"Someone's been looking for you, miss! They contacted us as soon as they realized you were lost! Come with us!"

There was little room for any argument in the matter as I was taken away. Chirpie was picked up by the back of its neck by one of the police officer's large dogs. It chirped rebelliously, but to no avail. Meanwhile, I wasn't so much as inwardly complaining about their enthusiasm of searching for missing people, but the other aspect of their occupation was laughable at best! No wonder people like Maxie could get away with stuff! These morons were awful at their job!

 **...**

Some time later, we reached the police station and I was marched into the waiting area. Unfortunately for me, the one who was looking for me had also been there; waiting for me with open shirt buttons.

"May my darling student! There you are! I was so terribly worried!"

Oh no.

My body grew stiff at the sight of prince-like Sycamore. His handsome smile made me grow nervous. Sadly, there was nothing I could do to escape his ever watchful eyes now that was back in his vicinity.

When I got nudged close enough, he pulled my body towards his partially buttoned chest. My face burned as I could feel the smooth, warm skin of his toned chest against my cheek. Once again, the short-sighted police couldn't see the obvious wrong picture in front of their eyes. To add to the boldness, he began to stroke my head.

"I am so relieved that you are safely back within my cares! You poor thing; you must have been so frightened and lonely. Do not worry though; I shall take great pains to make sure that I will NEVER lose you again!"

 ***continued in chapter ten***


	10. Chapter 10

Professor Sycamore and I left the police station after he gladly filled out the remaining paperwork. In that meanwhile, I went around to desperately tell any police officer about what happened with my encounter of Team Magma at the Oceanic Museum. Sadly, my words fell on deaf ears. One of them even patted my head and told me that I had a very active imagination. Who hired these idiots?! Didn't they even want to care about protecting the citizens of their city?! If I was an officer, there would be no doubt that I would tear people apart if they were even suspected of littering!

Once we were back on the streets, I held my very flustered Torchic. He was angry about the same thing; I had caught short glimpses of the small bird chirping frantically at the large police dog arcanines. All they did was yawn loudly and laid on their great paws to nap. Well, at least I wasn't crazy about Team Magma's existence. I hoped that a victory meal would cheer us up.

Chirpie and I glanced around and spotted a small shop that sold croquettes; bingo. I started to walk in that direction with all speed when Sycamore's encircled my waist and pulled me closer by his side. At his brave action, I scowled threateningly with protest. Thankfully my frustrations helped me from feeling strange from his touch.

"Hey! What gives?! Chirpie and I wanna go eat!"

The handsome professor chuckled lightly in response as if what I was doing was silly and out of the ordinary. My Pokémon chirped out in disagreement to his decision as well. "Darling, why would you want to eat something so degraded? It is truly a pity that such a pretty thing like yourself would willingly want to partake in something so poorly prepared. Are you not more deserving of something better?"

Oh, so this was happening now? First it was the invasion of personal space, then it was the plots to keep me from leaving him and now this?! "I don't care what I shove in my mouth! I'm hungry right now and I want to eat! You're here because YOU volunteered to be! As a trainer who has money and easy access to food right now, I'll eat whatever I want! So fuck you because it's MY final decision!"

We ended up not going there to eat. Whether it was Sycamore's strange powers or the sudden guilt I felt, there were no croquettes to be bought. Chirpie was certainly disappointed as it looked forward to eating one. I tried to make it up to him by giving the little firebird a granola bar. It sadly pecked at the thing to poorly convince itself that it was the thing to be desired. The professor assured me that there would be better choices for dining in the upcoming city all the while he kept a firm hold on my waist.

Eventually, our party reached the two routes that led to Mauville. Since we didn't have any bikes, there was no taking the less hassling cycling route. Our only option was the road with several miles of tall grass. It was a man-made path that was designed to encourage different varieties of Pokémon to thrive and attract trainers who wanted to catch them. Outside of the road was the glistening sea that was ever-moving with animated excitedness.

I was always ready to stop and call it a night, for the sun was dipping down low into the horizon. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for Professor Sycamore due to his high expectations of sleeping in a hotel. Another Part of that reason was not being in a possession of a sleeping bag that Professor Birch kept insisting him to get. The good thing about marching on (I guess) was getting my pokedex filled as Sycamore recorded my findings; praising my skills of catching Pokémon while doing so. I lightly blushed with appreciation.

Around two hours after the sun setted, we reached the outskirts of the most modern and grandest city in all of Hoenn. I gasped with surprise on how BIG it was! It was shaped in a large square that had colossal walls making up the shape that represented the four different paths which would lead to different parts of the region. Inside the walls were large buildings that stretched proudly towards the night sky. Everything looked so...hi-tech. The most impressive part of my first experience at the sight of it was its many displays of lights that illuminated the city. Almost everything moved and glowed so vibrantly! It was even grander than Goldenrod!

"Well May, do you now understand why I was so urgent as to get here with haste?"

I turned my head to see a more composed Sycamore. He was certainly glad to arrive, but for his own reasons. At the professor's question I made a face, but it wasn't one out of frustration, defiance or anger like it had been since my journey with him started. This time, it was out of playful sarcasm. "Yeah, yeah. Let's just go already," I comically replied while pretending not to be impressed with the sight. The professor just laughed in response and took my arm in a gentlemanly gesture before walking towards the city.

 **...**

Once we were within the city limits, my eyes got all big from taking in all of the sights. There were so many shops, offices, people and Pokémon! It was all very busy too! My excitement got the better of me and my face beamed while looking around. Chirpie, who never experienced a complex urban setting had too been dazzled by everything. In fact, he looked like he was getting dizzy. Sycamore remained little affected as he was used to the big city life. The professor merely took in a deep breath and exhaled with relief.

After I got the excitement out of my system, hunger set in. My gaze wandered around until it caught sight of a food court...a battle food court. Alright! Let's go ea-"Wait up dear,"

Sycamore (who still had my arm) promptly held me back when I tried to go any further. I looked back to give him a mildly annoyed but puzzled expression. He gave out a chuckle at my face of dismay. "Not there, darling. It is much too rambunctious to dine properly. I was rather well informed about a much better restaurant just around the corner from here. Now come you silly thing," he said while lightly tapping the tip of my nose with his index finger. "Let your beloved professor show you a world in which you have been deprived of for so long,"

 **...**

Before I knew it, we spent over a week and a half in Mauville. The first night that we did get there, the professor had indeed taken me to a large fancy place to eat. I was sad to put Chirpie back in his ball, but the stupid rules of that place banned Pokémon from roaming wildly around the place...stupid restaurant. Another thing that made me stand out was the fact how I was the only one not dressed in fancy clothes. I started to feel awkward and uncomfortable as some people looked up from their meals to stare at my non-conformed appearance. Sycamore however, didn't even register the strangeness of the situation (probably because he was a big city person or something) and casually walked by the onlookers without missing a beat. Looking like he owned the place.

Through his smooth tongue, a dashing smile and generous tips, we were seated a small, round and white clothed table next to a window with the view of the city. The silverware was neatly placed on white cloth napkins with a candle burning softly in its glass holder. The food we ordered was admittingly delicious and the soothing calmness was there, but for some some odd reason, the professor kept staring at me while we ate. Often glancing at me every few seconds while sipping the small amount of wine that was in his glass (I have no idea how he got away with drinking in front of me). Well, it wasn't so much as the staring that bothered me a whole lot, but the fact that his fingers boldly intertwined with mine while doing so. That bastard was lucky that I was a lefty or he would be in serious trouble for keeping me from eating. In addition, he would occasionally correct me on my bad posture from years of being seated awkwardly at the table and the way I shoveled food into my mouth. That was very frustrating.

After the meal was done, we decided to turn in for the night. The tricky part about my stay was the lodging. There was no problem with funds, but: "May dear, don't be so unreasonable! I recommend it would be much safer and practical I we shared a ro-"

"Good night Professor," SLAM!

I quickly locked the door and pushed the small sofa in front of it. There was no way he could get through that...but just in case..."Go Beldum!" I shouted as I took out my steel/esper type. The living metal creature came out almost eagerly; it was glad to be out. It took one look at me and gave off a metal cooing sound before coming over and nuzzling my arm as a signal of wanting affection. "I know, I'm sorry that its been a while since I let you out to stretch your...stubs, but you get to sleep with me tonight. How does that sound?" I asked while petting its head. Beldum gave out another metallic coo in agreement to my offer.

Once that had been settled, I changed into my nightgown ( for indoor use only) and hopped on the plush bed with my Pokémon. A minute or two went by before the lids of my eyes closed and slipped into a comfortable sleep.

The next morning...

Due to the tossing and turning, my body was cocooned in the thick blankets when I came to. Beldum was sleeping comfortably on my pillow when my head moved during sleep. I sat up to scratch my head messy head and sleepily looked around when my eyes shot open from a chilling discovery.

On a small wooden drawer next to my bed was my pokenav, a note and a long stemmed white rose with its petals beautifully opened to show off its simple, elegant splendor. Now alarmed, I looked to the door; the chair was still perfectly in its place and everything was locked. There was no balcony or large window he could climb through, so how did he do that?!" Honestly, I was more frustrated by the growing curiosity on how he pulled such a feat than being creeped out by the fact he was in my room while I slept. Well, I was somewhat bothered by his need to invade my privacy and personal space.

Reluctantly, I reached for the note and focused on the words written there.

 _Dearest May_ -

Immediately, the note was put down so I could run a hand through my tangled hair and let out a heavy sigh. That was definitely him alright. So bothersome; even through his neatly written letters. Gathering up my attention span, I resumed.

 _Dearest May,_

 _It is quite an unfortunate inconvenience, but I must leave you by your precious self during the day for a few days. We shall reunite when the evening comes. You mustn't shirk your duty to train during that time. I was told the third gym is quite a challenge. I bid you farewell until tonight!_

 _-your beloved professor_

So he wasn't going to be around to hound me during the day for some time? YES! I could do what I wanted and he wouldn't be there to tell me no or dissuade my decisions! There was relief to be felt, for I wouldn't be overwhelmed by his presence, but yet...

A small feeling of disappointment suddenly settled in the deepest part of my chest. I looked at the rose still sitting on top of the drawer. Without giving it another thought, I lightly grabbed it and held it to my face to smell it. The scent it gave off was not too strong with its lovely perfume and had small hint of the professor's own cologne. I could only guess that he had held it up to his face in the same way. The soft petals gently tickled my nose and a warm feeling came over me. Without realizing it, five minutes of my life was spent sniffing the flower.

"WAIT! What am I doing?!"

The tranquil spell that was casted over me by his wretched plant broke upon realizing how much I was lingering on these weird feelings. Irritation returned and I hung onto it. The items were swept aside as I got out of bed and went for my pokéballs.

"Chirpie! Wrumple! Come out!"

On command, the two Pokémon appeared before me. I held out the note and rose out to them. "Chirpie, burn this. Wrumple, you eat this,"

The two cried out in understanding and began their work. It was admittingly painful to watch wrumple already tearing off the rose petals to be chewed upon by her powerful jaws and the note get turned to ashes by my torchic's fire. However, I thought that it needed to be done before I got ensnared into something that would be impossible to escape.

That was how my first day in Mauville started.

I trained all my Pokémon vigorously as suggested and met up with Professor Sycamore that evening. Accusations and threats of violence were already on my tongue when I confronted him. The response however, was less than the desired outcome. He merely downplayed his crime and prevented me from thinking anymore about it by sneaking a kiss on my forehead when I least expected it. "You must be so stressed from training, why don't you stop for the evening and let me take you somewhere to...unwind," is what he concluded with while taking my arm and dragging me to some unknown place with him.

 **...**

Day three rolled around and it was time for me to challenge the Mauville City Gym. The professor was right about it being difficult; I spent nearly the entire day being flustered by the switches and getting the occasional shock from being too close to the electric fields. It took every ounce of brainpower to figure out a path that led to the gym leader. Speaking of which, when I finally reached the end, the one in charge of the electric-based gym turned out to be the founder of the city itself! Instead of battling right away, four hours of my life had been used for keeping the old man company as he talked about how he got the idea for it, the process of making plans and how a project called 'New Mauville' was shut down due to complications. My Arceus...this guy could give Professor Birch a run for his money.

Eventually, we were through with the conversation and I quickly challenged him to a battle. It wasn't filled with heart-pounding anxiety like the last gym, but there was alot of enthusiastic energy to be found. For some reason, I felt like an old lady compared to him because of how jolly and full of life he was in combat.

Chirpie and Beldum were my main players in this match due to his choice in electric/steel types. This time, my steel/esper type was able to listen to my commands as it repeatedly rammed its head into Wattson's voltorb. In the end, the red and white Pokémon exploded before it could be finished off. He tried to take Beldum with it, but my Pokémon was able to withstand the blast.

The next two were easy after that with my fire-type in hand. By now, I started to realize the common sense between advantage types and their weaknesses; after all, anyone with a brain stem should figure out that a hot enough fire can do some damage to steel. Chirpie hopped about wildly around the battlefield while launching his flames at the magnemite and magneton. Easy successes that earned me the Dynamo badge.

However, the excitement didn't end there. Suddenly, Beldum and Chirpe started to glow and change shape. I held in my breath while watching the amazing development. When it was over, my torchic and beldum evolved into combusken and metang. The steel/esper-type was now larger than me, had two long arms and glowing red eyes. Chirpie grew several inches with mustard colored feathers on its upper body and burgundy red ones on his legs. In addition, he had long, clawed arms. While they looked different, the two remained as they were internally: With their same old silly personalities intact.

As I saw professor Sycamore again that evening, I proudly showed him my accomplishments like a five-year-old would show a macaroni art project to their parent. Just like Birch, he praised my achievements with up most enthusiasm and encouraged me to continue training. Eventually, I became more relaxed around him; having more of those cute, girlish smiles and wide curious eyes that I used to save only for dad. He seemed to like this development for he would always announce its presence and how adorable I looked while making them. I wonder how come dad never said that alot to me?

When the professor was completely free from his business, he would sit back and watch my train. Sometimes, he would borrow my Pokémon to use in mock battles against me. Skitty was very excited about this idea and would have to be constantly called back to attention from rubbing her head against his shoes and pants. It didn't help that Sycamore encouraged this behavior by petting her in return. Overall, training with him wasn't too chaotic and disorderly.

After training, he would whisk me away to some new part of the city and educate me from the different places for shopping to the smallest stands that have the best kind of many pastries. I figured that he picked up all this stuff beforehand in a brochure or off a computer so he wouldn't be bothered with asking where things were. No matter where we were though, the two of us would always retreat back to a small coffee shop called 'Crooner's Cafe'. For him, it was a safe haven in that relieved him of the strange world he was currently staying in. To me, it was a slightly more quieter place to relax from the city's hustle and bustle. During that time I unexpectedly found myself talking to him for hours. My tone was always ecstatic and fast from not wanting to miss a single detail. Although, I had to backtrack and tripped on a few words at times, I guess I was a decent talker. Sycamore said nothing of my mistakes. He smiled warmly and supported his face with his hand with the intentions of listening to every word.

Out of the many experiences I had in Mauville, one of my favorite highlights was a photo booth the two of us just happened to pass by. My face lit up and I quickly jumped behind its curtains. I then got the idea to take out my Pokémon and snap pictures with them. I pulled all six out with one at a time as they took their turns to sit next to me while making faces or doing silly poses for the camera. Poor metang had a hard time doing any facial expressions, so I tied my scarf that made up my bow around its arm to have a feel of belonging with me. Poochyena had been too absorbed with chewing on her squeaking toy to notice the camera. Skitty got scared from the flashes and ran out of the booth to the safety of the professor. Half of wrumple's was her face taking up half if most of the space on the photo. Wingull flapped her wings up and down with excitement; making it blurry when developed. Chirpie sat beside me and we both got hyped from playing patty cake, putting bunny ears on each other and showing our happiest expressions.

When the evening would wear me out, I went back to my room with Sycamore escorting me there. Sometimes if I was too exhausted to budge an inch, he would carry me back. A few times, I fell asleep in his arms. Near the end of my stay in the city, he carried me back to his room where I would snuggle under the covers of his bed that still held his scent while he slept on the couch.

 **...**

The start of that final evening felt like any other; filled with excitement and wonder of what he was gonna show me this time. Sycamore took my hand with delicate fingers several minutes after the sun was down. He led me through the labyrinth-like streets while I tried to make guesses of where were going. Each time he would answer with a playful 'no'. It's like he enjoyed keeping me in torturous suspense.

After about fifteen minutes into my failed interrogations, I realized that soft, green grass was crunching under my feet. That's when I focused on what was in front of me; making my eyes get big in the process. The both of us stood at the edge of a park with neatly arranged trees and flora that decorated the vastly large, grassy area. A small fountain squirted water where a few group of kids tossed coins or couples sitting on the ground holding hands. In the middle of it all was a majestic, square-shaped metallic white tower standing proudly illuminated. Although there were many lights in Mauville, this area in particular had very little and dimly lit park lights to purposely be overwhelmed by the main attraction; also letting the millions of stars shine from above

No words could describe how I felt at that moment. My only reaction besides wide eyes and a slightly opened jaw was an amazed silence. The professor let go of my hand and hooked his arm around mine. "Come dear, let us go closer to enjoy this moment, yes?" he said while leading me to a bench next to the tower. We both sat down on the wooden seat and took in the fascinating scene. I didn't remember he did it, but it took me a while before I realized that his arm was over my shoulder; I didn't shrink away from the gesture like I normally would. Some time passed from taking in the scene when the professor breathed out a relaxed sigh and began to talk.

"You know, May dear, this tower was modeled after the inspiration of the Prism tower in Lumiose City. It is supposed to represent the bond between the Kalos and Hoenn regions,"

My mind soaked in his words as I continued to stare at the structure. A question suddenly formed and I didn't hold back from asking.

"Professor? What's your home like?"

Almost on cue, his head turned to face mine. A handsome smile spread across his lips. I could tell from his facial response that he had up most pride for his region.

"Kalos is...many things. But if I were to describe it with one word, it would be that Kalos is beautiful. So very beautiful,"

He then went on to talk about the history and climate of his region. For starters, it was much cooler than Hoenn (from what I initially guessed due to his shirt always being partially buttoned) in the central and eastern parts. The western parts were warm, but not like it was here. Sycamore then talked told me about a great war that happened over four thousand years ago that took the lives of many people and Pokémon. Apparently, artifacts of that war still existed today. He moved onto talking about all the towns and cities; describing each one of them in great detail. However, he saved the best for last.

"Finally, there is Lumiose City. Like Mauville, it is also a central hub for the region; though it is much bigger,"

"Bigger than Mauville?!" I exclaimed with interest. Sycamore laughed innocently at my excitement.

"Yes, so much bigger. There are cafés at every corner and more varieties of things to choose from. The city at night glows with many lights and we are able to make our lives easier thanks to the gym leader, Clemont and his inventions. Many people and Pokémon move there to see if they can have a better life. In fact, I live there too. My lab is actually much larger and i have many employees working for me. Quite a pity that you haven't seen it,"

"Maybe I could one day,"

"Really? The proud, unrelenting May Maple wanting to lower herself as to visit a poor Pokémon Professor in his humble shanty? I would be honored,"

I laughed at his joke and a warm smile grew on my face. Honestly if i came here alone, I don't think that i wouldn't have had this much fun. Maybe I judged him too quickly. The both of us continued to watch the amazing Square Tower until Sycamore let out a small yawn.

"Goodness, it feels quite late. Why don't we retire for the evening?"

Slight disappointment crossed my face and I groaned. For me it felt too early! I didn't want to go to bed yet! As much as I wanted to disagree with him, arguing never worked. My sigh of defeat indicated that I was ready to leave. He got up first and faced me with an offered hand. Mixing with the breath-taking scenery, I imagined him like some dashing prince. A prince from a very large and advanced kingdom. I inwardly rolled my eyes at my constant reference to fairy tales.

"Shall we go?"

"Uh, yeah sure,"

 ***continued in chapter 11***


	11. Chapter 11

The two of us went back into his room that night. I was with him because I had left my card key there from when I slept in his room night before. Sycamore graciously opened the door for me like he usually did in that silly chivalrous notion and I quickly went inside to make a beeline for the drawer. Meanwhile, he closed the door and headed for the bathroom to wash his face.

My grip swiftly reached for the handle and pulled it open, but I scrunched my brows in confusion as the drawer was found empty. There was no doubt that this was the Last place I remember leaving it. "Professor! I can't find my key card! Do you know where it went?!" I shouted loud enough for him to hear me over the running faucet water.

"HM? Oh! I haven't the faintest idea! House-keeping must have taken it by mistake! We will get you a new one in the morning!"

Suddenly, a small red flag of suspicion was raised within the depths of my mind. House-keeping huh? I looked around and saw a white sheet that was carelessly bundled up in a ball that sat on the small sofa Sycamore slept on the times that I occupied his bed. Hell, even the bed wasn't folded properly; I should know since I was the one who folded it! I felt a little bad that house-keepers had to clean up so many people's rooms. I figured that folding my bed would give them some relief, but the times that I came back to my own room proved that they would come and fold it anyway.

Now feeling slightly uncomfortable, my hand seized the phone and held it up to my ear. With growing terror, I realized that a dead silence took the place of the usual dial tone. That was when a second red flag shot right up. Okay, time to leave. I sprinted for the door for freedom, but when I tried to pull down the lever, it wouldn't budge. Horror now gripped my being as I pieced together that I blindly walked into a trap. That horror quickly turned to anger. All those countless hours that I spent with him...the many times that he flashed me those handsome smiles or took me to so many captivating places...it was all merely a well strategized plot to lower my guard! That way, I would willingly go into Sycamore's room without any forceful means on his part. I should have known something was wrong from the way he only planted soft kisses on my forehead or was just satisfied with holding onto me by the hand and arm. He was savoring me and waited for an opportune moment! The anger being felt already started bubbling over inside me. I was going to strangle him with my bare hands!

"May dear, is something the matter?"

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as the professor's soft voice was suddenly heard behind me. I reluctantly turned around and saw his calm, beautiful face with a now very alarming choice of style. His socks and shoes were off and his hair more messy than allowed if he were in public. Of course his dusky look couldn't be complete without his silken blue shirt being untucked and unbuttoned...all the way.

The second our eyes met, his lips stretched into a very mischievous grin. One look at it was all that it took for my furious bravado to melt away and resume my attempts to open the door. Curse these weak arms!

" Goodness! You look so frightened! I must recommend that you calm yourself, lest I come and soothe those worked up nerves myself," I heard him say behind me while he creeped closer and attempted to fool me into slowing down my progress. However, after hearing that bold statement, I started banging on the door. I hoped that someone (anyone!) would hear the distressed beating against the thick wood and investigate.

For the professor, my panicked reactions didn't bother him in the least. If anything, they seemed to make him amused and all the more eager to torment me further. Upon hearing him getting closer, I quickly faced the devious Sycamore.

"Come any closer and I'll attack you without any mercy! I mean it!"

"Will you now? I hope you try your best then. It has been quite some time since I had any worthy opponents,"

So the bastard was eager for punishment, huh? Well fine! I'll give it to him!

I quickly took off my shoe and threw it as hard as I can at my pursuer...and he didn't even have to move for it to miss. Naturally, I prided myself on beating the stuffing out of the opposition with rarely any issues. This was the SECOND time that I failed to violently subdue him...making my fumble all the more embarrassing.

To top off my failure, the action left me wide open for Sycamore to snatch me up and hold me in his arms bridal style. I felt like an armored Pokémon whose soft underbelly was dangerously exposed for any predator to come along and eat me (namely this guy). I screwed my eyes shut to prevent myself from looking at that victorious grin that was surely now spreading across those features of his.

"So this is all that the proud, unrelenting May Maple had to throw at me? Nothing but empty threats and a shoe? I was expecting more of a ferocious beast to assault me with no remorse," he mocked with a teasing giggle as he moved over to the soft bed. "Perhaps it would be better if I offered a demonstration, yes? Otherwise, how else will my naive, little birdie be able to attack her beloved professor more effectively?"

Without any hesitation, I was dropped onto the plush mattress with him quickly following suit. Before I could even try to flinch, he draped himself over me with his long legs encircling mine and putting weight on me from the waist down. Sycamore then was able to use the support of his arms on the bed so he could torment me all the more easier.

Suddenly, I was struck with a very off and hot throbbing feeling from his hips sitting on top of mine. My face turned a very red color from struggling on how I should respond to his insistency. I tried to repel it, but it didn't take much for the professor to notice and purposely make it worse by sinking his face into my exposed neck. I could feel a hand slowly slipping under my shirt to peel the fabric back and trace the curve of my side.

All of my feelings were in turmoil. Every touch that his fingers made on my body...his mouth that sucked and bit on my neck...it amplified these aching urges. Yet in the midst of it, I was terrified. Terrified because of how they were shaping me. Pleading to stop resisting him.

That's not to say that I didn't try to put up a fight. My arms were still free and I forced myself an attempt to unlatch the man off me like he was some sort of leech that sucked the life out of his prey. Unfortunately, I didn't have the strength that I usually possessed. My arms were turning to jelly from touching his hot, bare chest. Did this bastard plan to leave his shirt open on purpose?! Did he know how much I suffered from his indecent exposure?!

Sycamore ceased his attack on my neck to touch his forehead against mine. Those deep, ocean blue eyes of his invaded my own to bend my will for the sake of his own nefarious purposes. It certainly didn't feel fair on how easily he controlled me, but for the first time, my heart couldn't help but want him. I still couldn't understand what that meant for the rest of me however.

"Does it ache little birdie? Does it burn with need?"

His soft lips were now hovering so teasingly close to my own as he whispered his seductive words like it was some sort of dark secret. I had no choice but to have his undivided attention; my breathing picked up its pace in the process. "I could help you dear. Help you alleviate that bothersome pain that plagues you," he said as his other hand slipped up to my bangs and entangled his fingers between the thick strands.

"I can soothe those strange, new feelings that have been repressed for so long..."

I let out a slight moan as just his words had intensified that terrible throbbing I felt in my lower stomach. He chuckled darkly at my unconscious action as if I already agreed to his awful plot.

"All you have to do is let me in. Just allow me to have you...and I will give you an experience that you have yet to feel,"

To give me some incentive for turning myself over to his cares, Sycamore pushed his mouth to mine in a feverish kiss.

I wearily closed my eyes as I let Sycamore taste my lips. It was a little surprising for his tongue to slip into my mouth to explore every crevice he could find and caress my own timid organ. Any remaining resistance I had broken under pressure.

The enchantment casted over me numbed my brain until I thought of nothing but him. Ugh, he tasted so good and he was so amazing at kissing! It was almost like the first time, but better! Why did I push him away so much?! What kind of life was I living until now?! I- BOOM!

Sycamore was about to move one of his hands down to my shorts when the door was suddenly blasted into splinters; certainly startling the two of us. No sooner had we experienced the interruption, I realized myself, who I was with and what I was about to agree to. Fright took over and I found the power to push the attractive-looking professor off me. Of course I clumsily fell to the floor while doing so, but forcefully picked myself up to sprint for freedom.

Getting closer to the entrance, a dizzy magnemite slowly rolled towards my feet. I tilted my head in mild surprise, but of course I should have known that they could self-destruct too. In any case, I was very thankful for its presence. I quickly scooped it up and prepared t-"AH!"

My thoughts were broken by my shoulders registering the feeling of slender fingers smoothing their way around them in an attempt to seize me back into that foggy, warm place. I didn't have to guess who they belonged to.

"Darling, where are you going?" He asked softly whilst bringing his lips close to my ear. "Don't you want to stay with your dear professor?"

He subtly tried to pull me into his chest; tried getting me to where he wanted to resume his evil deed. Unfortunately for him, I was now holding a small, injured Pokémon in my arms, and that was more than enough of an excuse to get away from him.

"...No!...NO!NO!NO!"

I wrenched myself from his hold and ran through the broken door. There was no caring about where I was running off to as long as he wouldn't be able to find me. I ran out of the hotel complex and turned corner of a street when I collided bodies with another person who was just about along the same pace as I. The two of us fell back from the impact.

My head! It took me a moment to collect myself while using one arm to hold the magnemite and the other to rub my forehead before identifying the person that slammed into me. It was a young boy who had black smudges all over his face. His teagreen hair had a lively-WAIT A MINUTE! I've seen him before!

"I-I'm so terribly sorry! I -I didn't *cough* didn't mean to run into you! I was loo-*cough*looking for my magnemite!"

Hm?

I looked down in my hold to see the poor, banged up electric/steel-type before offering it to the boy...though not stretching out my hands too much. He was part of those shifty trouble makers after all.

"Here, I think its yours,"

He looked at it for a moment before his winter blue eyes got excited and snatched him up in a hug. I could see that tears were beginning to well up. Was he actually going to cry?! I was dumbfounded that by this strange reaction.

"*cough cough* I-I was so worried! I won't ever make you do anything you don't wanna do again!"

The ear-grating sobbing went on full blast as watched him bawl in the middle of public. People passing by gave us a quick glance and hurried their pace. Clearly, they didn't enjoy the scene that was being stirred up. I couldn't find any blame I them either, because my own patience was already running thin.

Finally after five minutes of his cry fest, I stood up with an irritated glare and opened my mouth to say something threatening.

"Maaaay?! Where aaaaare you my darling?! Don't you know that your beloved professor is sorely missing you?! He is in such an aching need of his lovely student!"

The abrupt sound of his soft, French-accented voice made a look of terror suddenly cross my face. The prince charming professor from hell was already on the move and closing in fast! I had to leave now before I got caught in his web again! My gaze focused back onto the boy again who was still crying in self-pity. If I left him here, there was no doubt that he could tell on me. My grip quickly seized his arm and I started dragging him as fast as I could. Of course, his natural reaction would be trying to resist my hold on him.

"He-hey!*cough cough * A-are you kidnapping me?!"

"Shut up or I'm gonna start beating your face in!"

"Yes ma'am!"

My unwilling companion and I crossed streets, went through buildings and turned corners like our lives (or mine) depended on it. Although, the task might have been easier if I had my other shoe on. Maybe in hindsight throwing my shoe at the professor was a bad idea. Ultimately, I would have to suck up the complaints until we were in the clear.

 **...**

Deeper into the night of Mauville City, I finally relaxed and let go of the strange boy in front of a bike shop. It was by coincidence that the owner of the store came out to throw something away and noticed us both; or rather me and my missing shoe. He beckoned the boy and I to come inside, where I was presented with a new pair of running shoes. Apparently they were going to be a present for his niece, but she had already gotten a pair days ago. Thankfully, we both had the same foot-size.

After thanking the shop owner, we left the place to sit down on some old benches. The doe-eyed boy insisted on it because wanted to talk. I purposely kept some distance between us, but not as much as I used to. Being with Brendan and several other experiences on the road helped me understand a little bit more about them.

"I-I uh...wanted to thank you for finding my Pokémon. I just s-started being a trainer and all,"

He fidgeted while trying to form audible sentences. I also picked up on how he kept his vision trained on the ground in a great effort to not make eye contact. Most of all, the atmosphere he created was sad and lonely. I couldn't help but want to cry if I stated with him long enough.

"Don't worry about it; it's not a big deal...really. Anybody could've done it. And I'm sorry about threatening you. I-"

I quickly halted my tongue to come to a terrifying realization. Did I just apologize to a boy?! Dam! How did that happen?! Not even to Brendan had I uttered anything that resembled remorse! My mind felt so confused. Maybe I was still adrenaline pumped or something.

The boy turned his head and it was at that moment that marked me to be forever doomed about caring for his well-being. His wintery blue colored eyes got all big and teary with a puppy dog look that made me blush with adoration. I was sure this was the universe paying me back from the time I was ten and broke mom's vase. I carried the pieces in secret to have it buried on the beach and told nobody of my crime.

The boy suddenly gripped his legs and tears started pouring out again. "It's not your fault! *cough cough*...I-I'm just too WEAK! I-I thought I could do it, but I'm a horrible trainer!" he exclaimed through his tormenting coughs and upset sputtering. His words and tone gave off the impression of a wounded person whose dreams have been crushed. Judging from how he looked right now, the boy was in constant conflict with the resolve he made. The small hopes he tried to nourish were dying from the overburdening doubts and obstacles that got in his way. It was like I was watching a movie and the spectator next to me was breaking apart from watching a tragic scene. I needed to do something before he made it into a cry fest again.

Deep within my mind, I activated my 'helpful advice' mode. Then without missing a beat, I grabbed the front of the boy's sweater and pulled him with me as I stood up. My face now burned with determination.

"Don't EVER say that again! There's already too many people in the world who are because they think Pokémon are just item accessories to show off! A trainer is someone who loves them like children, eats and sleeps with them...gives its partner a meaning to strive for! And even if you are weak...as long as you trust them...they'll trust you back and fight the battles you can't fight alone! That's what a REAL trainer is!"

A heavy silence hung in the air shortly after that as we just stared awkwardly at each other. My fired up features started to soften up and the boy stopped his crying. Eventually, I let him go and we both sat back down on the bench. I leaned back with a lazy position while he leaned forward stiffly with his arms resting on his legs.

"...M-my name's Wally,"

"I don't care,"

"What's your name?"

"Shut the hell up,"

"Can I call you Shut-the-hell-up Chan?"

"No! That's not my name! It's May!"

"Oh...can I call you May-Chan then?"

UUUUGH! I am going to murder this kid! Why was I tortured by such a stupid boy! If he didn't have such an incredibly adorable face, then he would have had a black eye by now! Maybe if I stuffed my face then I could work up the courage to punch him. My lungs sucked in air and made me let out a rough sigh before getting up.

"Come on Wally; let's go eat something,"

"Really?! I've never eaten with anyone besides my family and my Pokémon be for, May-Chan,"

"Don't call me like that! It sounds all weird coming from you!"

Wally suddenly gasped and his pale skin turned a light pink from blushing. I shuddered a bit from his alien behaviors.

"Does this mean that...you're my sempai?"

"Yeah, sure. Now hurry up or I'm not paying for your food,"

"Yes, May-sempai!"

"AARGH!"

 **...**

The Mauville City food court was a very large place when compared to any other food court that I've been to. There were so many places to choose from and the walls echoed the conversations of people who battled and ate with ferocity. While at the moment there were places to sit down, chairs were now started to be filled quickly. I gave Wally some money and told him to meet up with me when he finished ordering. He replied rather happily with a bow and skipped off to find what he wanted. Yeesh, even I don't skip like that (anymore); he needed to toughen up fast.

When I was by myself (so to speak), I mindlessly wandered to an empty table and sat there while my thoughts drifted elsewhere...namely to professor Sycamore. The second a picture of his handsome face filled my mind, I grunted with agony and gripped my stomach as the painful throbbing returned. The skin of my face turned red and my eyes felt heavy as I dropped my head to the table. He was so awful and shameless in his villainous plot to take advantage of me in his room. So bold and unrelenting as to seize and subdue my movements...but yet...so very inviting the moment his alluring gaze captured me. His body so very warm to the touch. Those hips of his stoking a burning desire that I in a million years thought I would never feel.

Maybe I should leave the city before Sycamore finds me. I'm sure Professor Birch wouldn't mind too much that I purposely left his colleague behind to fend for himself...or, I could ditch Wally to seek out the handsome Kalosian to beg for his forgiveness while making him those cute face he seems to like as an incentive...Wait! What was I thinking?! Nobody else was supposed to know in the first place that I was capable of doing those but dad! Ugh! I knew I was desperate at that time, but I should have just stuck with the 'pretty please' tactic.

Everything in my head was swirling so much in chaos, that I didn't notice a green and white Pokémon lightly tapping on my leg until I felt it increasing in pressure. I gazed down to see it staring back at me through its deep red eyes like it knew what I was thinking. This Pokémon stood on the tips of its toes and looked like it was wearing a tutu. I was starting to feel uncomfortable with how it was observing me when my human companion finally came back to sit across from me. The strange creature left my side and urgently went to its master. It was my turn to watch in fascination as brushed off his pants and repeatedly checked for anything out of the ordinary. Wally looked slightly distraught.

"K-kirlia! I-I'm fine! You don't have to do this all the time!"

The Pokémon let out a soft cry of objection and urged him to lower his head. With a sigh, he bent down and reluctantly allowed her to push back any stray hairs that got in the way of his face. Looking at the pair reminded me of my mother who I fought tooth and nail with at the age of seven while she tried to comb my hair or give me a bath. It was in those kinds of battles that I lost every time.

After ordering my meal and sat back down, I noticed Wally's adorably curious eyes tracing my every expression; which sorta creeped me out. It almost reminded me of-NGH! Don't think about him! Don't think about him!

Noticing my distress, the boy frowned. "May-sempai! Are you okay?! You look like you're in pain!"

The distraction of Wally's voice snapped me out of my hurtful mezmerization. I ran both of my hands through my hair with a heavy sigh. I hoped to Arceus that these weird, new flare-up of feelings would stop eventually. "I'm fine. Just stomach cramps from running too fast earlier," I lied and quickly changed the subject.

"But you know...I actually saw you before. I tripped over you near Petalburg City and my dad carried you to the Pokémon Center,"

Upon hearing this, Wally's eyes got bigger and blushed with excitement. Kirlia on the other hand was displeased with the memory of my father's hate against her shy master. And while she was never affected by his intimidation, the threatening words still reached her. "Really?! So sempai knew me from the start?! The strange thing I couldn't figure out though was why the nurse told me to stay away from him," he said with wonderment.

"She told you to stay away?"

"Yeah. I think she said something like":

 _"Please don't go and see him. He's a demon in human form and he'll eat you alive!"_

 _"Ma'am please let go! I can barely breathe!"_

"I think that's what she said at least. Anyway, the nurse made me promise not to go to his gym. I felt really bad that I couldn't thank him for rescuing me," he replied with a disappointed sigh. Taking in his words, I was miffed at the fact that my father was considered a monster in the perspective of the nurse. Sure he was a little uncomfortable when he got really angry, he had very solid reasons for being that way; which reminded me of a question that I wanted to ask.

"So...what happened that made you go you unconscious?"

"Oh well, I got very excited after I decided on becoming a trainer, so I went to go look for Pokémon and I accidentally cut my finger on some very sharp thorns. It was really painful to sa-"

"Hold it! You fainted because you cut your finger?"

"Well...not so much as when I cut it, just when I say blood coming out. I get really queasy just thinking about it,"

I had to take a moment to hold my face in my hands and forcefully drag them down my features. Was this kid REALLY that weak?! If he was gonna be a trainer, then cuts on the finger were the least of his problems. A friend of my dad's lost an arm over training! While this was a pathetic discovery the good news was that he wouldn't be any danger to me; and I he tried anything funny, then it wouldn't take much to put him in his place.

Meanwhile, I let Chirpie out of his ball to get better acquainted with Kirlia. He was still all excited about getting long arms and squawked with pride while showing the esper/fairy-type. She merely let out a sigh and gestured towards Wally to indicate that she was too busy taking care of him to notice (or care about) my firebird's transformation. It didn't deter him though, he kept on moving about to get her attention in the silliest poses or stances.

"Wally," I said as I stood up from my chair with resolution. "Seeing as how you're a weak and defenseless boy, I (May Maple) shall be gracious enough to give you some aid in the art of being a trainer,"

"Really May-sempai?! When do we start?"

"Right now because those pre-schoolers are coming over here to take our chairs from us,"

He looked bewildered by my words, but sure enough when he looked, the two children were already here In an attempt to force us out of our spots. Their pokeballs were on standby in their hands. A little girl who looked to be about four stepped out in front of us.

"Give us your seats or we won't go easy on you!"

"Not a chance, kid! We found these chairs first and we're gonna fight for em'!...right Wally?!"

"Um...I-I guess so..."

 **...**

And so, the two children marked the beginning of a long string of heated battles. It was also when I found out halfway through that if we took too long with battling, our food would get cold and gross. Fortunately, that wasn't an issue in the end. Combined with Wally's kirlia, my combusken helped dominate the would-be conquerors and enjoyed our meals. Chirpie and I stuffed our faces with the long desired croquettes while Wally and kirlia politely ate their sub combos.

When we eventually finished our meals, the four of us cleaned up our area and left the battle food court and set our sights for Verdanturf town. It was where Wally's uncle lived with his family and assured me that I could take refuge there for a day or two. Coincidentally enough, it was also the town where Lisia said that Contest Spectaculars were held. I wanted to leave right away, but my new travel buddy wanted to stop by the store for a flashlight and batteries.

"I-I'll be right May-sempai! Please wait for me here!"

"M'kay,"I replied with my hands resting on my head while he scurried off. With a now bored look, I turned to Chirpie, who started to wander around. Ugh, it's only been ten seconds and I'm already bored to death. Come on W **\- #$ &*%! **

I couldn't remember what curse word came out of my mouth that night, but what I saw nearly made my heart jump to my throat in undignified terror. Nervous, shy Wally had been fast walking with urgency when a tall, slender figure casually stepped out of the shadow of a seedy alleyway with unconfirmed, but clearly dark purposes. The smile on his face looked very forced. And while he blocked Wally's path intentionally, even though it was clear that no good would come out of this, my lower stomach started to hurt again. My face couldn't help but blush. How did he even find us?!

"Excuse me, dear boy! I couldn't help but notice that I've seen you somewhere before! Perhaps you could be so kind as to help me find my darling student! She gets lost quite easily!"

 ***continued in chapter 12***


	12. Chapter 12

Wally looked very confused as he was suddenly confronted by a question that had been asked by someone he just met. Kirlia got very nervous because she was reading the very obvious emotions that were in the air. The sad, lonely atmosphere that belonged to the naive trainer was now easily overpowered by the feelings of growing malice, frustrations and anger...lots and lots of anger. Those ocean blue eyes that belonged to Sycamore were now glinting a hardened grey while every inch of his body was unusually stiff. Nevertheless, a smile was plastered on his face; a smile that looked more sadistically cruel than friendly, but still a smile.

My knees were shaking and I had to force my body to move behind one of Mauville's many decorative statues for safety. Once it felt like a secure position for Chirpie and I to observe, I poked my head out to listen to their interaction.

"Um...y-your student?"

"Yes, MY student! I believe that she got terrified by an exploding magnemite and ran off in a fright! The poor thing even left her shoe behind. I don't suppose that you haven't seen her...have you?!" He asked with his words barely breathing properly from being strangled by the slightly restricted fury and impatiently waited for an answer.

Wally timidly collected his thoughts while Kirlia clung to his pants as they were being glared upon. Was he thinking about selling me out to Sycamore?! The moments of silence were long and scary as I contemplated on leaving. There was no telling what the professor would do to me if I was back in his clutches again. A minute or two eventually passed when Wally finally made up his mind and gave his attention to Sycamore.

"Um... I did see her and we did talk a lot,"

I started to get up and creep away from the area. My heart became heavy from the disappointment to be felt by the betrayal I just got hit with; even if I had just gotten to know him.

"But...she already left," he finished with his eyes dared to look up at the professor's. I suddenly stopped to look back at the scene. The weak, pathetic boy didn't rat me out after all! Relief was gladly taking the place of sadness and settling down in my chest, but it was far from over. His answer made Sycamore's eyes narrow with barely hidden irritation.

"Really..." he said while casually starting to circle the boy with his hands behind his back. Wally's eyes quickly focused back on the ground to prevent himself from being more intimidated than he already was.

"She just...left? It couldn't be a possibility that you're lying to me are you? Because lying to a person of authority could yield some very unpleasant consequences,"

My newfound companion started to get teary-eyed again and began to tremble. Maybe if he was lucky, he would faint before the professor ate him alive. It was still hard to think that only a few hours ago, Sycamore was so relaxed, calm and easy to talk to. Now he looked like a completely different person. Should I go and help Wally? Should I continue to stay in my hiding spot?

The young trainer in question forcefully squeezed his eyes shut and attempted to stick with his version of the story. "N-no sir! S-she did leave! She said something about going to Lavaridge town!" Wally blurted out as sweat now rolled down his face that was followed by violent, sputtering coughs that made his face turn red. Kirlia gave an alarmed cry as her nervousness was forgotten and tried to comfort her trainer. Sycamore stopped upon seeing him start to deteriorate and gave out a disappointed sigh. Realizing that there was nothing more he could do, he relaxed a little and retracted the vicious smile.

"I see..." he muttered to himself while continuing to stare at the boy."Well thank you dear boy, I wish you a most pleasant evening,"

With that, he walked down the street until he disappeared from view. I made sure that it was clear before rushing out from my hiding spot to check on Wally. He kept on coughing and shaking even after the danger was over.

"Wally ?! You okay?!"

"*cough, cough*...May-sempai?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you come to the store with me?"

"Sure,"

 **...**

The two of us bought flashlights and a few other supplies we needed before proceeding to leave Mauville for Verdanturf town. We traveled about an hour before calling it a night. To avoid any more surprises, we tied ourselves with rope ( I actually had to tie Wally's because he didn't know shit about knots) to a tree that would be our temporary housing for the night. That way if we fell, we wouldn't hit the ground...in theory anyway. The boy withdrew Kirlia and switched her out for roselia who looked more than ready to face the night. However, it would be wrumple and I to start lookout duty while the two slept.

As the shift started and my red caterpillar ate some leaves off of a nearby branch, my brain turned back to the events that transpired earlier. I felt ashamed for even thinking about ditching my partner; especially when he took a bullet for me. Even though he belonged to the dreaded boy species, I started to wonder if they were even as bad as dad made them out to be. If anything, men more of a threat since calculating Sycamore and smart ass Maxie have proved themselves to be dangerous in their own right. Oh Professor Sycamore; he was so downright terrifying in the act of tormenting others. I was so nervous from just being a spectator. But deep within the darkest part of my subconscious- for some twisted reason, it made my heart flutter a little. My breath was hitched at the thought of the professor baring his leashed anger through an unfriendly smile. It was terrible to almost wish that I was in Wally's place for those reasons, but I did; and I would never tell a living soul.

 **...**

The next morning, I was awakened by the feeling of soft petals brushing against my cheek. The action startled me and made my eyes widen to look at my travel companion's grass-type staring curiously at me through its small eyes. Next to it was Wally, who had a cheerful expression on his face. Obviously, from how he looked, the boy was more than ready to resume his journey so he could learn more about being a trainer. I rubbed my eyes and absent-mindedly sat up on the branch that was thankfully strong enough to support my weight while trying to fix my messy hair.

"Good morning May-sempai! A-are you ready to leave?"

"...yeah...sure..."

The remnants of sleep still clouded my mind as I was just barely able to answer. Nevertheless, my response had been more than acceptable to him. Immediately, he urged his roselia to hold on to his head as he slowly started to climb down the tree. It was a painfully long process as I had to give him a little pep talk to get him all the way down, but nothing dangerous happened beyond that. I followed shortly after with a quick and was pace while wrumple stuck to my shoulder.

Thus we picked back up our journey on a bright morning as we traveled on the road to Verdanturf Town. We passed a small daycare center where a charming old couple happily waved and wished us a good morning. The Pokémon behind their fence happily played in with their peers while a certain few were entertaining themselves on their own.

We also had encounters with athletes, bug catchers and Pokémon breeders who more than eager to test our skills as trainers. There was even a pair of students who claimed to be better than us. For some reason, Wally was flustered with this fact and quickly accepted the challenge. We teamed up once more with wrumple and roselia in play. It was a hard battle when put up against a fighting and normal-type, but we beat them as well as everyone else who crossed our path.

Not long after one of those battles, wrumple started to shoot out lavender colored string and encase herself in it. A strangely fascinating thing to watch because of how she tediously made sure that the threads were tight enough; and would occasionally re-thread it if it wasn't. When she finally did finish, wrumple had 'evolved' into casecoon.

We stared at each other for a moment before I went to go pick up my bug and curiously start to rub the silk barrier against the side of my face. Wow! This stuff was so soft! The remainder of our journey consisted of battling through trainers, fishing at the small ponds where we caught ourselves more Pokémon, talking with Wally to give him tips about what he should do in battle and rubbing my face against casecoon. Well I eventually had to stop because she started getting annoyed.

Four hours later, Wally and I reached the quiet, little town of Verdanturf. What I first noticed was how clear and delicious the air was. Aside from that and the pleasant light green grass that softly brushed by our legs was this small place that serviced people with medical herbs a Pokémon mart and center, a Contest Spectacular building and a handful of small homes. There was also a route nearby called the Rusturf tunnel. It was supposed to connect Verdanturf with Rustboro, but apparently they discontinued the construction because their equipment disturbed the Pokémon who lived in the tunnel.

Here's where things started to get confusing for me. If we lived in a world where people could tame large beasts with immeasurable power and use them to help us with almost anything under the sun, then what was so difficult about getting a Pokémon to just lift the obstacle out of the way?! Or teaching one to dig around it?! Or breaking it?! There were so many options to pick from! I was tempted to seek out the foreman so I could punch some sense into him. Lucky for that guy, he was on the other side of the tunnel. Not wanting this stupidity to stand any longer, I dragged Wally with me inside the dark place.

An hour of walking in the dark and unusually damp tunnel revealed a girl who looked slightly older than me, who was trying to peek through the small spaces of the large boulders that were in her way. I certainly had little idea of who she was, but my companion did.

"W-Wanda!"

The teen turned around in surprise as Wally scurried to her and gave the girl a frightening hug. While I would give the occasional near-death hug to Brendan, I was still somewhat repulsed by the action of him doing it. Boys were still very shifty to me.

They talked for a little bit while I sat on a nearby rock. Poochyena surveyed the area while chewing on her squeaking toy. The sniffing that would once in a while accompany a sneeze from taking in too much dirt. When they finished with conversation, they walked over to where I was.

"May-sempai, this is my cousin Wanda...she wanted to ask if you could help her with something,"

At that moment, she stepped forward. Just like Wally, she had the same wintery blue eyes and long teagreen hair. However, she looked like she went out more because of her tanned skin. She straightened out her forestgreen dress and held firmly on her sun hat.

"I uh...I was talking with Wally and he said that you could do anything..."

Really? Anything? I could have laughed from the utterly ridiculous statement that blew me out of proportion. It sounded even funnier since I just met him. Despite the amusement that I could have gotten, I kept my mouth shut out of respect and the fact that she was the first girl that I met so far that didn't have some crazy personality. Also, from how my companion talked badly about himself the first time we met, life probably sucked hard for the boy and would hold fast to the small breaks that he caught.

"...I...I really need your help!" I glanced down to her hands and noticed that she began to roll the rim of her sunhat with anxiety. "My boyfriend's trying to so hard to break those boulders but they won't budge! I know I've only met you...but please...can you help us?!"

"Uh, we actually came here to do that anyway so...yeah sure,"

"Really?! Thank you so much!"

"Eh, not a problem," I answered and promptly stood up to face the large boulders. I walked over to them and studied its rugged surface for a place to start before giving out a short whistle. The little dark-type who was looking around perked up and came running with a happily wagging tail. Poochyena stopped just a short few feet away from me; still biting down on her toy.

Past my lips came a confident chuckle as a hot burning determination filled my chest. "Alright poochyena, use rock smash on those boulders!" I shouted while fiercely pointing to the obstacles. My Pokémon dropped the squeaking entertainment upon hearing my command and ran toward them. She slammed into the rocks head first. The impact was great and already, shards of stone flew off to reveal a large hole.

"Come on poochyena! Keep at it!"

Another ground shaking impact reverberated into the tunnel's floor and the cracks in the boulders grew larger while spreading around the stone. Despite the expectation of the outcome, it was still amazing to see such a little animal like that take down something over seven times its size." Okay poochyena! Give it your all with this last one! I know you can do it!" I exclaimed as I encouraged my Pokémon in the loudest voice I could muster.

It backed up as far as the tunnel would allow with determined eyes locking onto the target before stopping briefly. The little dark-type took in a deep breath through its nostrils and suddenly charged forward with trembling speed. Poochyena zoomed past the three of us and crashed into the formerly superior obstacle. The little dog went right through the boulder and onto the other side with a sudden audible grunt that shortly filled the air.

Wanda, Wally and I looked at the huge, still growing hole that was now in the once mighty stone. We didn't have time to get a clear picture of who else had been on that other side because the rest of the rock was quickly falling to pieces. We all backed away to a safe distance as it crumbled into rubble and dust kicked up in the air. When everything took a minute or two to settle, our party saw a now clear path to Rustboro city...and an unconscious guy wearing a martial artist outfit on the floor with my dizzy poochyena laying on him. Mission accomplished! Although, the cousin didn't seem to agree.

"EECK! TIMMY!"

 **...**

Upon taking Wanda's boyfriend to a small treatment center, it was revealed that he sustained three broken ribs; and there had been no small wonder of how it was caused. He was lucky that the impact of the rock slowed my Pokémon down enough to do only that. He didn't seem to care about his injuries though. Timmy's attention had been too absorbed with the gladness of being able to see Wanda more often from now on. His weird determination to be with Wally's cousin made me wonder about Sycamore's own drive to keep me within his proximities as much as he could help it. Was I making a mistake by pushing him away? Could it be that I was the one who was wrong?

Those questions became stuck in my head for the rest of the day as I rewarded my freshly healed Pokémon with a new squeaking chew toy; it was in the shape of a meowth head. Poochyena ran around us in circles as we walked towards Wanda's house afterwards with rapid squeaking sounds to be heard. Upon reaching our destination, I was introduced to Wally's uncle and aunt. They were surprised by my efforts and influence I had on their nephew. Apparently he had some sort of medical issue with breathing and the original plan for him was to stay with them for some time. However, his unexpected ambition to become a trainer had put those plans on hold. That being said, they insisted that it was my presence that caused Wally to feel a little more happier with who he was. Of course I couldn't see any of those kinds of changes, but I did notice his kirlia looking more radiant today than from last night. She twirled around him a little more and happily kept grooming the boy a lot more than his sanity could handle.

Later that evening, I joined his family for dinner and nearly gorged myself to death. Fortunately, my trusty poochyena was there to help me out by eating what I couldn't force down my throat. The best part of the meal: No Sycamore to tell me that I was eating like I was in prison! Or tell me that eating too much would give me stomach cramps (which I got later)! Because screw etiquette; I'm a trainer!

After dinner, I stayed up with Wally to talk about many things: Like where I used to live or that he sleeps with a tennis racket because of his fear of spiders. Wally reminded me of Brendan in a few ways...if he had those sarcastic comments and talks about someone named Jane in his sleep.

"By the way sempai, why do you wear your bandana like a bow?"

It took me a minute to register his question.

"Oh...this thing?" I clarified while taking the red accessory off. The slightly rough texture was felt on my skin as my brain searched for answers. Hm...why did I wear it like that? Eventually, I gave up trying to find it.

"I dunno. I'm more comfortable with wearing it like that I guess,"

Even with that sad excuse, the strange mystery still bothered me. It would have been more normal if I wore it around the whole head. Well dad did say I looked adorable and mom said it added a nice feminine touch. I shelved the oddity in the back of my mind before shooting my own question.

"So what's up with kirlia? She's so uptight about everything and likes cleaning you off. It's like she's my mom,"

"Well, that's her way of thanking me,"

"For what?"

"For feeding her,"

The boy then told me about how he met kirlia one day when he made a bold effort to eat his lunch outside. It wasn't an easy feat for him since he just got off of his inhaler after an annual physical deemed him to be fit without one. Still, he struggled with finding his breath when he wasn't emotionally sound. It was then that a dirty, weak ralts came up to him with slow steps and a bowed head.

Upon finding the poor thing, a curious look appeared on his face and crept towards it. The ralts stopped and was about to turn when a ham sandwich was thrusted out towards the little creature. It took one look at the meal and snatched it up to eat.

That day on, the Pokémon wouldn't stop following him around. Wally had to believe that this was some sort of sign to set out to become a trainer; so he did just that.

The answer came straight out of left field and hit me hard in my chest. He looked completely straight-faced, but I could already feel my eyes getting wet and forced myself to turn away so I could rub them. Dam Wally and his ability to compromise me!

But in point, he never actually caught it in the wild or had it given to him? I thought about what Professor Birch said to me when I first got Chirpie. Never did it occur to me how deep bonds could be forged out of simple acts of kindness with people and Pokémon. I thought it had to do a great deal of just being the superior one to gain the respect needed in order to give love later on. I think I need to tell Chirpie that I love him a lot tonight.

At the same time, it was no wonder he was found the way he was. I had to assume that he followed some sort of guide for catching his other Pokémon, but REAL guidance could be useful to him.

When it got late, I decided to turn in for the night. I told Wally that he could come with me to the Contest Spectacular tomorrow but threatened to pummel him if he breathed a word about it to anyone else. There would be no way that I would have any personal security with someone else besides him and Lisia knowing that I was going to don one of the most girliest outfits in history.

"G'night Wally!"

"Good night sempai!"

 **...**

 _On the road to Verdanturf that started from Mauville, a figure carefully walked on the dark path with a small light that came from a device he was holding. It was the map of the region with a magnified part of Verdanturf town. With the aid of the glowing light, a victorious smile played on the person's lips. He should be able to get there by tomorrow morning._

 ***continued in chapter 13***


	13. Chapter 13

The morning I woke up to in Wally's uncle's house was filled with an exciting buzz. The development of Wanda's boyfriend now being able to visit freely, Wally having someone that sorta resembled a friend (me) and the Rusturf tunnel being opened was still fresh in everyone's mind. Thus the breakfast table held plenty of food and conversation. However, I was too busy shoveling food into my mouth to engage in any talk unless it was absolutely necessary. Today was the big day for me to compete in my first Contest Spectacular. Truthfully, I didn't feel nervous in the least bit. After all, skitty whom I chose as the participating contestant would be the one to go up on stage to perform. I was just the person who would wear the stupid looking clothes.

Speaking of skitty, the little creature was by my leg; rubbing her head against it and meowing softly in request for food. That adorable face and its methods had been just too much! However, my dad sternly warned me that training Pokémon that were naturally attractive would be difficult. They could easily manipulate their trainers and were used to getting what they wanted with appearances alone. Well this skitty was certainly going to work just like everyone else on the team...Team Maple...yeah that sounded good.

I wiggled a piece in front of skitty to capture her attention. "Okay girl...sit!" I commanded as if she was more of a dog. However, it seemed to get what was coming across because she diligently obeyed the simple order and Sat down before looking up at me expectantly for a face of approval. Pleased with her obedience, I rewarded her with the treat. Skitty excitedly took it and began to consume it.

"So May, I heard that you and Wally are going somewhere today. Are you two gonna do some training?"

I looked at a curious Wanda that sat across from me; she daintily picked up her food with a fork. Wally was next to me, feeding his magnemite a biscuit. The live assortment of metal parts gladly took it and dematerialized it into its...wherever it's stomach was. "Uh...yep! That's exactly what we're gonna do today! In fact, don't bother coming to look for us...at all!" I said while getting up from the table and putting my things in the sink.

The teenage girl glanced at the both of us and let out a slight giggle. Hm, why was she laughing all of a sudden? Did I say some hidden joke? The boy however, picked up Wanda's response to my answer and his face became bright red. "I-It's not like that Wanda! I just met my sempai! W-we're not doing anything like that!"

"Doing anything like what?"

I was confused about what he was saying due to the lack of understanding that involved romantic relationships. Had I known, it would have turned into a very violent morning.

"N-nothing! Let's hurry so we can get a head start!"

 **...**

When breakfast was all said and done, Wally and I left the house. While on the road, the both of us talked on the way with our speculations of what these 'Contest Spectaculars' were gonna be like. Lisia didn't go into all of detail about it...actually, she did; I just wasn't paying a whole lot of attention at the time. What I did remember was that there were five categories to participate in and a talent round. The rest of the information was complete babble to me, and I would come to find that there would be personal consequences for such carelessness.

 **...**

Thirty minutes of walking yielded the wondrous sight of the Contest Spectacular building. My companion was getting hopped up with excitement because of the anticipation. I could tell that his imagination of wonders that my skitty and I will perform was already being blown out of proportion. I had to remind him that there was no way that I was going to go up there and make myself look like a fool in front of thousands of people. The disappointment for Wally was great.

Once inside, my companion waited with the other people who were to be the spectators while I went up to the front desk. I was given multiple forms to fill out for my Pokémon to participate. Of course skitty would be in the cute category of the normal rank contests. Hm...talent? Well she was sorta good at scratching things and manipulating people with her adorable face...dancing it is!

After filling out all the forms, skitty and I were gestured to the dressing room so we could get ready. We obliged and went right in. No sooner had we entered the spacious place however, a very familiar person who was already there spotted and greeted me. "Maaaaay! You came! I knew you would!"

Oh boy.

Lisia promptly squealed with excitement upon seeing me, by thankfully didn't pull me into a suffocating hug. Still didn't make her less insufferable though. While her bird tweeted with joy, skitty shared my uncomfortable feelings of being with such overly jolly company. "You're just in time too! I can help you get ready for your cute debut!"

"My cute debut?" I asked with my tone less than thrilled.

"Yes! One has to look their most adorable when making their start in a cute contest! But first, let's get you out of those clothes!"

Let's? What did she mean by-ARCEUS!

The door suddenly slammed shut behind skitty and I as a strange, creeped out feeling came over me. Lisia's smile remained as it was with my pink outfit suddenly in hand. It would seem that she greatly anticipated my arrival for the sake of being her doll for dress-up. "I...I think I forgot that there's this thing...oh fuck it!"

I quickly turned on my heels towards the exit when my face smacked right into the giant bird's cloud-like wings. The loyal Pokémon of the teen idol wasn't gonna let me go so easily. It pushed me towards Lisia with an exciting cry.

"Good job Ali! Now May...let's get you dressed so we can put on your make-up ," she said in what I thought sounded like a tone of sadistic pleasure. Make-up?! I've never worn that stuff in my life! Cosmetics in my biased opinion were unnecessary and too complicated for me to comprehend. I knew that mom wore some on occasion, but I overall stayed away from the stuff.

"Wait! I don't any of your dam make-up! AH! Don't get any closer!

 **...**

I was pulled into a cabana screen where I was parted from my comfortable clothes by force and was made to wear the nearly unbearable, sparkly outfit. However, the torture didn't stop there. After I finished getting dressed, Lisia pushed me into the vanity chair. She undid my hair and attacked me with a hairbrush, styling gel and many combs. My eyes teared up as my head was painfully pulled back by the teen's violent brushing through the unruly hair in an effort to make it manageable. Once it was tame enough, she added styling gel to shape my hair; admittingly one of the most calm part of my 'cute debut'.

The peace however, was short-lived when moving onto the second phase: Make-up. I was politely scolded several times to remain still as she applied foundation and powder to my face. When that was done, Lisia carefully added mascara to my lashes to make them more noticeable. Finally, the teen put strawberry-flavored lip gloss on my lips; a task that proved slightly irritating to her because I couldn't help but want to taste it.

"Hm..." Lisia thought out loud as she stepped back to observe how I looked. Her lack of a quick response made me dread that she felt unsatisfied with her work; and she indeed was.

"Ah! I know what's wrong here! You don't have any earrings! Not to worry though, I have loads of em!"

"Hell no! I don't want to wear any more of that gaudy crap! I swear you'll be styling a black eye if you try to put more stuff on me!"

"Hey I found a pair! This'll look great on you!"

"Are you even listening?! I sai-AHHHHHH!"

Outside the room, audible screams of pain could be heard by people who were in the lobby as I had gotten my ears pierced for the first time.

 **...**

I glared angrily at the teen who now examined me with much satisfaction. The lobes of my ears were throbbing with a dull ache of holes being poked into them. She was gonna get it! I stood up from the stool with a hateful intention to mangle her. "Wow, you look so much better now! See for yourself!" She said while gesturing to the vanity mirror.

Fury clouded my common sense and logic as I readied myself to beat that stupid smirk off her face. Fortunately for Lisia, I just happened to glance at the reflective surface while cocking back my fist to punch her and stopped. My breath was caught in my throat as I saw something that could only be done by magical fairy godmothers.

My hair was tied up in a side ponytail while my side bangs cascaded down both sides of my face. A light layer of powder covered up any shine that would have shown on my features. The gloss made my lips more pink and glittery. Simple white earrings were in place without making me feel too cluttered with stuff.

The outfit I wore was a combination of colors that consisted of an off white, purple and different shades of pink. My top had long white sleeves that stopped at my elbows with a multi-colored scheme of a pink bow design on the front. The covering stopped just a few inches above the waist to give room for the design of the skirt. It was certainly cutesy with a stitched in belt for holding my contestant Pokémon's ball; the bottom of it also had the same colors at my top. And while it was short, there were thankfully light pink undershorts to go with it. It had light yellow trimmings around it; overall the garments were a must for the sake of my sanity. On my feet were hot pink heels that were designed with three leather bands on my calves with a bow on each side.

The only think that felt out of place was the bracelet. It was the same color as my short's trimmings with a little pink heart attached to it. What made it strange was the stone in the middle of the little heart. There was some odd design in the middle of it with a bluish-green color.

"Sooo...you like? I know I do! Your cute debut is bound to wow the audience and maybe even steal a few hearts of some cute boys!...and then...you could have this beautiful romance as you blah blah blah blah! *sighs* blah blah..."

I stopped listening to Lisia as I continued to stare at myself in the mirror. What would dad think about it? He would probably tell me that I looked ridiculous and make me take it off. Mom might be an avid supporter for me finally wearing something that wasn't tomboyish... And Sycamore?

My face burned red as possible scenarios played in my head. That silky voice of his pitched with amusement while observing me in a devious fashion. That gentle grasp playing with my long locks of hair as he would find some excuse to get closer to me...well fuck him! He won't get an opinion! It's not like I was going to show it to him! I'd sooner be criticized by that lame-ass nerd, Maxie than subject myself to more of that evil professor's confusing torture!

"...blah blah but enough about that! The contest is going to start soon! Make sure that you get all those last minute warm-ups in and prepare yourself to dazzle the crowd! Oh! And one more thing! Remember to smile!"

I focused back on the teen as Ali flew by her side in preparation to leave the room. She giggles with excitement and clapped her hands together. "See you after the contest! I'll be watching!"

 **...**

Ten minutes passed and the contestants were ordered to come back stage so they could line everyone up in order. I was last according to the random draw, but that suited me just fine since I can efficiently monitor any mistakes or certain quirks the other made. First in line was a middle aged man and his slakoth, then a girl with her taillow, that was followed by a boy with his poochyena and finally skitty and I.

The majority of the backstage was dark with the exception of the bright lights that stole through the opening of which we would be going out of. Shouts and cheers from the audience that cried out in anticipation rang in our ears. My eyes stole a glance at skitty; she started to get nervous. The little creature let out these small, frightened mewling sounds while practically clinging to my leg.

"Hey girl, don't worry so much!" I said as I picked up the kitten to comfort her. "I'll be right there to keep your mind on track!" said my enthusiastic voice as I tried to prevent any more anxiety from building up. It worked to some degree because skitty stopped shaking; although the whimpered mewling was still evident. All while doing so, I purposely didn't mention anything about the dreadful professor because I inwardly hated how much my Pokémon adored him. Jealousy once again stole its way into my heart from how much she loved receiving attention from him and not me. Well, that was certainly going to change!

Suddenly, a voice broadcasted through large speakers announced the start of the contest. That was the cue for the first contestant to go up on stage. Through the opening, my eyes stared at the two as they began their act. To me, the choice of having his Pokémon loaf around was incredibly boring. Was it all that it could do? Oh man, I think I'm gonna die from the boredom of waiting.

 **...**

A half hour passed and the other two contestants came and went with ease. Honestly, it was still pretty boring. The girl managed to stun the crowd with her taillow as they did hoop tricks for their act while the boy and his poochyena took lead with doing some commands like shaking its trainer's hand and standing on its hind legs.

Eventually, the two of us were next. I stretched my legs in preparation as skitty came beside me. "Okay skitty, let's go out to own all those losers and get something to eat after that! You ready?!" I asked with brimming self-confidence. She simply meowed at me in understanding while the shaking of growing anxiety came back again.

We both took in a deep breath and walked out of the safety that was formerly the back and onto the polished stage. Suddenly, all of that confidence that I had melted faster than a snowman in the desert when we were confronted by a sea of spectators. Fright gripped my heart and skitty ran behind me for protection.

"Ladies and gentlemen, contestants no. Four: Birdie-Chan and Skitty!"

Yep. I knew choosing that nickname would come back to bite me in the butt. When I went to fill out everything in the lobby, my eyes stared dumbfoundedly at the name entry. I certainly didn't want anyone to know who I was. My reputation of being a strong, merciless trainer would be shattered if word got out that I participated in this...sugared up pony show. Of course I wasn't very imaginative when it came to aliases. However, the ones that did stand out to me in my head was some that came from Sycamore and Wally; thus it led to the creation of 'Birdie-chan'. Ugh, I hate them both, and yet they were the ones who supplied me with a decent stage name.

No sooner did my 'name' get broadcasted, did all of the bright spotlights focus on us with an upbeat, poppy song start playing in the background. Oh hell! What should I do?!

 ***continued in chapter 14***


	14. Chapter 14

"Oh my stars! You did sooo much better than I expected on your first try May!...or should I say...Birdie-Chan?"

"I have a real name, and you know what it is so don't go callin' me that unless you wanna swallow your teeth,"

"Aw boo! That's no fun! Especially since it's a cute nick name too!"

I groaned as my head was firmly laid on the vanity counter in the dressing too while Lisia babbled on. My first Contest Spectacular experience felt like a blow to my pride. When the music started up, I tried to nudge skitty out in front of me to perform. I paid for the attempt with deep scratches on my leg and it took everything I had to keep from swearing in front of the audience. Oh the irony of mocking the other contestants only to find out that I was the most ill prepared!

"Yaaaay! Go sempai!"

Oh arceus. To make matters more mortifying, I had forgotten that Wally was in the audience. His cheering could be heard through the empty silence of the spectators. If he was going to end up as the only person who liked my act, then I was doomed for sure.

Gears were furiously turning in my head to figure out how I could salvage the performance. Wasn't there something that she liked to play with? Suddenly, images of a red ball of thread crossed my mind. The times that we stopped to relaxed, skitty would beg me with its adorable stare to take it out for her amusement.

Grabbing her ball from the fancy belt hold, I opened it to materialize the desired item. Before skitty could take it, I snatched it up, unraveled some of the thread and made a knot that prevented the ball from unraveling any further. "Skitty look!" I said while waving it wildly in front of her. She stopped trembling once it was in her line of sight and began to way her tail.

"Come on! You can catch it right?"

That was her cue to start running after the suspended thread ball with excitement. I tied the end of the thread to my finger and started to throw the object up in the air. In response, skitty started to jump up wildly in the air to attempt to catch it. I did it a few more times before walking back and showing it to her once more. She energetically chased after it. The stage was slippery, so it was natural that she skidded with difficulty and even rolled past her target. While it wasn't really dancing, I was something that came close to it...I think.

The audience seemed somewhat interested in the adorable act and produced scattered shouts of cheering. In the end, I finished it off with luring skitty to me and held her close to my chest while flashing the audience with a cutesy smile. As far as that went, I guess I did okay. It was a much better scenario than backing out or setting fire to the stage and burning down the building. And strangely enough, I landed in third place (despite my blunders in the beginning) with the girl and her taillow in second and the man with his slakoth in first; who knew huh?

While it all seemed like marshmallows and rainbows, the mistakes combined with the world seeing my girlish expressions left a bitter taste in my mouth. Although, the cherry on top was once again SYCAMORE indirectly helping me save face! AAARGH! Curse him and his stupid present to skitty! It was because of HIM that she didn't completely obey me in the first place! I hope he's miserable right now!

Back in the safe haven that was the dressing room, I was getting ready to take off my costume when a knock came to the door. The two of us looked at each other with mild curiosity. "That's odd. There's nobody else scheduled to be here. Maybe...its a secret admirer!" She said excitedly as she got up to answer the door. I gave out a rough sigh as my head was still planted on the counter. Hopefully not Wally to tell me how 'adorable' I looked or something; I didn't like looking so exposed and defenseless.

I heard the handle being turned and the door open, but was made me look up in alarm was how Lisia reacted to who was on the other side of it. "Oh!...Oh my! H-how can...h-how can I...hi!"

Even though I could only see the back of her, Lisia was unusually stiff with most of her turning a bright pink from embarrassment. She sounded like she was trying to find her breath.

I immediately stood up in alarm, for I easily recognized what caused those kind of reactions that claimed many female victims...and who usually caused them.

"Sorry to bother you, but I was kinda wondering if you've seen someone named May around here?"

BRENDAN! Wait, Brendan?!

My head quickly tilted to the side and got a better view of the person at the door. I nearly let out a shout of surprise when I indeed identified him as the old, adorkable friend that I started my journey with. However, he went through a major drastic change. Brenda now had red jacket with a thick tuft of fur stitched on one side. His shirt looked odd with its mix of colors that consisted of yellow, green and black. A red and gold belt held up his black jeans that were tucked into red boots. Like myself, he wore a bracelet (though more simple in design) with red diamond shapes decorating the round accessory and the same blue-greenish stone set in the middle. Wait a sec...did he have highlights?

Strange as the situation was, my heart was glad to see a familiar, non-intimidating face again. I swiftly sped to the door and attacked him with a monstrous hug with a stupid grin stapled onto my face."Good arceus! I'm so glad to see you!" I exclaimed as he tried to recover from the shock of my assault. It took him a minute to recompose and pry me off him.

"Nice to see you too...when you're not strangling me to death,"

"What are you doing here anyway?! I thought you were with your dad?!"

At my question, the teen gave me a smug grin. "Well I was, but dad said he wanted me to find a certain special kind of Pokémon on a list he gave me to study their habits. He also mentioned that I should train my own team in the meantime to do it. As you can see though, I'm taking a bit of a break,"

"So is that why you're dressed all goofy like that?"

Brendan frowned as I addressed his current choice of attire. His face blushed. "It's not goofy! It's cool! Unlike that sugar-coated mess that SOMEBODY'S wearing," he countered as he pointed out what I had on to take the heat off of him. My mouth split into a scowl as I was reminded of the embarrassment that was forced on me. "What do you know anyway?! You're just a boy! Now go away! I need to change!" I said while shooing him several more feet out of the dressing room before slamming the door. After a heavy sigh and leaning against the thick wood, I turned to see a still stiff Lisia.

"Lisia! Earth to Lisia!" I exclaimed while waving my hand in front of the face to capture the teen's attention. When she finally returned from the abyss that made up her fantasies, she shook her head. "I'm sorry! It's just that...he was so cute! But I can't believe that he asked for you! It's not fair! I want to gave a cute teen romance story with hiiiim!" She whined while grabbing onto my shoulders.

"Hey! I don't like him or anything! GAH! YOU'RE HURTING MY SHOULDERS! LISIA-"

 **...**

After fending myself from the heart-broken teen idol and changing back into my comfortable clothes, I went out to the lobby where I saw my former companion sitting on a couch also wearing his normal clothes. His zigzagoon curled up on his lap and gave the occasional growl of its speech as if it was trying to talk to him. Skitty was exhausted from her performance so wingull was taken out to stretch her wings. Though it preferred to sit on my head alot.

I was more than eager to catch up on things with him, but no sooner had I taken my first step, did my vision of him get blocked by Wally's adorable face.

"May-sempai! You were so amazing! And you looked so pretty in that dress! *sigh* I wish you wore it ALL the time!"

Those wintery blue eyes sparkled with enthrallment as he practically pinned me down with his excited compliments. The scene hadn't gone unnoticed by Brendan's keen observations and walked up to the two of us. The zigzagoon used his shirt as a means to climb up to his shoulder.

"Woah, May... Are you talking to a boy and NOT punching him? I feel kinda jealous!" He joked while seeing the non-violent interaction between us. Wally however, took the jest the wrong way and gave me a teary-eyed look. "What does he mean by that, sempai?! Do you like him more than me?!" He exclaimed while attempting to cling to me. I naturally responded by restraining his attempts with holding his shoulders and trying to push him away. How many times was this going to happen to me today?!

"Wally, what the hell?!Dammit Brendan, help me out here!"

"What do you want me to do? Spray him with water?"

" I dunno! You're a boy! Can't you talk to him or something?! He's from the same shameless species as you!"

"You make it sound like I'm an alien! Uh-uh! If you want breathing space, then ask nicely!"

What?! Ask nicely?! While I got used to him during the time when Birch was my acting professor, it felt like I had to wash my tongue with soap whenever I had to say things like that. Still, it was leaps and bounds ahead of what I was dealing with a second time. Sentences timidly started to form from my lips. Oh arceus, I think I'm starting to get nauseous.

"P-please...please help me... **OR I'LL RIP OUT YOUR SPINE** -"

"Ah-ah-aah! That didn't sound very nice or friendship-tastical. I guess I'll be going then-"

" **FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT'S HOLY AND SACRED, PLEASE HELP ME**!"

I was sweating bullets forcing down the rise of bile down just from saying those compromising words. Fortunately, it was enough for him to act as he politely grabbed Wally by the back of his sweater and dragged him away for a hopefully useful conversation.

 **...**

Fifth-teen minutes of talking between the two boys yielded very good progress. Shortly after it ended, the timid boy came up and gave me a deep no along with a lengthy apology; whatever he and Brendan talked about, it must have been really something. Now I had to thank Brendan...again. It wasn't as bothersome as asking for help, but I still struggled with it like last time.

"Uh...thanks,"

"Eh, not a problem! The great and powerful Brendan is always here to help the poor and unfortunate!"

"Wow, you sound just as conceited as Professor Sycamore," I absent-mindedly blurted out. Upon hearing the name, Wally started to cough and sputter nervously as his first encounter with him wasn't so pleasant. He didn't know the name of his tormentor, be he knew that I was his student (sorta). Brendan picked up his strange change in behaviors and raised a quizzical brow at me.

"Speaking of which, where is that guy anyway? Wasn't he supposed to be traveling with you?"

Crap! I didn't even think about that! What I supposed to say; that I ditched him? That probably wouldn't go over very well with him. My I stole a quick glance at Wally and then looked back over to Brendan.

"Well...he um...he left for business and stuff! Nerds right?"

The strange answer seemed to work as he let out a frustrated sigh and rubbed his forehead. "Typical of a guy like that. Well, at least its just him and not his boss we have to worry about. I heard that guy's a jackass,"

Hm, he had a boss? It was funny to think that care-free Sycamore had someone above him giving orders. Now that I really think about it, he has been here for a while. Wasn't he worried about losing his job? From what Brendan said, he didn't sound like a nice guy.

Anyway, the subject was quickly abandoned for the sake of our sanities and left the Contest Spectacular building. Unfortunately, Brendan couldn't join us because he needed to check on his mom, but he assured me that we would meet up again in Fallarbor Town where the next contests would be. Wally and I waved him goodbye and watched him disappear in the Rusturf Tunnel.

Now that our business was finished here, it was time to move on to our next destination: Lavaridge Town! The decided plan was to travel up to Mt. Chimney and go through the Jagged Pass to get there. It seemed like a simple enough plan. Sycamore would have probably gotten there by now and realized the trick; so there could be some chance that we might run into him on the way. However, I wasn't top worried since Wally and I were trainers and could use our Pokémon to escape that possible situation.

Wingull and magnemite were accompanying us back to get some things for Wally when my bird caught the sight of a nanab berry tree and zeroed in on its fruit. It made a sharp turn to the right of Wanda's house and landed on one of its branches to seize one. Ugh, seriously wingull? We had important stuff to do! I went after her and clamored for the gull to get down. Of course, Wally thought I looked adorable from the way I called out to my bird to make it come down and giggled. Magnemite paid no attention to the scene because thoughts of Wanda's cooking were on its mind and thus was the one to reach the door.

The light atmosphere took a sudden drop when the small steel/electric-type opened the door with its magnetic abilities to reveal a composed-looking Sycamore who was about to leave. I turned around to see the now unfortunate encounter that Wally was unlucky enough to walk back into. My first response was to hide behind the tree with a frightened, flushed expression stapled all over it. Wally himself stood frozen in place as he tried to recover his senses; sadly he had no chance to flee.

"Well, well...Mr. Wally looks to have finally returned! You must have been very busy indeed to be gone most of the day! However..." The professor glanced at the empty space beside the boy in an almost comedic manner before locking back on him. There was no doubt now that he knew Wally lied to him. "...you seem quite...companionless. You're very informative cousin told me that you left the house with my student this morning. I can only wonder if you would be so kind as to talk with me more about that,"

Wally's only form of defense was to remain silent. After a long, terrifying minute of an unanswered response, Sycamore strangely let out a laugh as if he heard a funny joke. It unnerved the both of us, for he seemed very unpredictable.

"How shy you are! Almost as if you're terrified of my presence! I believe we should remedy that before bridges start burning, wouldn't you agree?"

Despite the 'friendly' statement, there was still a silent returned while I contemplated on what to do. Finally, I bit my lip as I decided to give myself up. Of course Wanda was home so the professor couldn't do anything to him, but it felt wrong to continue letting Wally take the fall for my absence; even if he was a boy. I slowly crept out of hiding when my current companion had suddenly spoke. "Uh...uh-huh! I-I think so too! In fact, s-stay a while! He exclaimed while ushering the professor back into the house and closed the door with a heavy slam.

Arceus, what was going through that soft head of his?! I felt a great need to go and rescue him, but that obvious hint he made also prompted me to take advantage of the situation. My fists clenched and I furrowed my brows with resolve. Wally's sacrifice would not go in vain! I grabbed wingull's and put her back in before running on the path that led to Mauville City.

 **...**

My lungs were practically on fire as I was finally within the city limits. I was currently out of danger of getting caught, but now faced the problem of getting to my next destination. The combination of my terrible sense of direction mixed with the city's labyrinth-like streets raised my chances of getting apprehended. It was only a matter of time before Sycamore finished off Wally and come back here to hunt me down. I bet the bastard took so much enjoyment out of doing that when he was in the mood for a little sport.

Without thinking, I frantically ran deeper into the city with my nerves on end. My eyes darted everywhere as I scanned the directories of where 'here' currently was. Hang on a minute...this was the fourth time I came to this one! Dammit! What do I do?! What do I do?! Panic was beginning to set in when someone lightly tapped my shoulder.

Upon feeling the action, I quickly turned around with all senses on high alert to see a pair of siblings and a small, brown Pokémon. The one who looked older had short, blond hair with large spectacles on his face. He wore a light blue jumpsuit with black sneakers. And just like Maxie, he had 'nerd' written all over him. The little girl on the other hand had a short, blond side ponytail with a brown shirt, a ruffled white skirt and brown leggings with Mary-janes. The small animal that was with them looked between a cross of a marril and a raichu.

"Excuse me miss, but you look pretty lost. Are you trying to find something?" He asked while adjusting his glasses. I blinked while studying him with a curious glare. For some reason, I thought of him to be more of Watson's grandson or underling given what the theme of this city was. "Err...yeah. I'm trying to go to Lavaridge Town. You wouldn't know how to get there, would you?"

He didn't say a word to me, but walked over to the directory that I was next to. Feeling a smidge uncomfortable, I scooted away to claim my personal space while he studied the map. It was funny how focused he looked with his brows furrowing in thought. While he was doing that, I stole a glance at the little girl who happily squeezed her Pokémon in an adorable hug. The creature let put small squeaks of joy in appreciation. "Ah-huh...I see now..." mused the strange kid when he finished observing the layout of routes and turned his attention back to me. "I believe the road to Lavaridge Town is north of here. Right now we are located in the west part of the city. I suggest that you go down this main street like you're going to the Pokémon center, but keep going past it. After that, it wont be hard to miss," he replied as if he were stating mumbo-jumbo than giving out directions.

"Thanks! I'd like to stay and chat, but I'm on a tight schedule. Hope to see you later!"

"Okay! Have a good night!"

 **...**

After following the helpful guidance without having the misinterpretation of my doubts getting in the way, I finally found myself where I was supposed to be : Going towards Lavaridge on route 111. The surrounding area had a few pine trees and even fewer normal ones. While there were large patches of tall grass, the amount of were very small. It wasn't a mystery of why the vegetation was like this. It was only natural to notice that the party responsible was an active volcano that has a tendency of blowing a gasket and spewing ash everywhere. The rocky environment was becoming more prominent with each passing step.

"Heeeey Maaaay! Over here!"

"Huh?!" I said in surprise while turning my head.

"No! The other way!"

On command my head obliged the order and turned once again to see the excited Gabby and Ty running towards me...actually Ty had to be satisfied with a light jog because of the heavy camera he carried. So thus the reporter was the first one to greet me with a light slap on my back. It took a minute for the cameraman to meet up with us.

"Hey kid! Remember us! It certainly has been a while!"

"It's only been two weeks,"

"Still a long time in my book! But how have ya been? Busting any Team Magma butt lately?"

"Not really, they've been pretty quiet. I'm actually on my way to Lavaridge Town right now," I replied while stretching my arms. The two news crew employees both turned their heads to look at each other and then to me. Their once happy expressions melted to a sad disappointment. "Sorry kid, but we just found out that the cable car's broken down. It's getting fixed right now, but they won't know how long it'll take,"

I frowned as my plans for getting the next badge were officially delayed; the next best thing was traveling to Fallarbor Town to meet up with Brendan and compete in the next Contest Spectacular. Well, at least I didn't have to find out the hard way. With a sigh, I put my hands on my hips. "I guess I'll just wait in the next town then. Thanks," I said before shortly starting to walk away.

"Hey, wait a sec!"

I stopped and turned to face the two when Gabby called me again. She scratched the back of her head in a way that would suggest she was beating around the bush. "Since you're here and all...you wanna have an interview battle?"

"An interview battle?"

"Yeah! Since you helped us out at the museum, we got inspired to interview trainers and test their skills! We even got our Pokémon last week! So how about it?"

"Hmmm...sure!"

"Great! Ty, let's cue the interview!"

 ***To be continued in chapter 15***


	15. Chapter 15

"The combination of Chirpie and metang was divine! The sight of them-Chirpie and metang selflessly supported each other in the thick of battle!...It was a marvelous sight to behold! Ember was the move the trainer used last in battle. The move 'ember' is Chirpie's and metang's sign of friendship!" said Gabby as she reported to the camera while I was in the background with my battle partners. I was petting the two of them as my sign of gratefulness for participating in their role for combat. Metang nuzzled my stomach and Chirpie squawked frustratingly because his friend was hogging me.

"So May..." said Gabby as they turned to me and trusted the microphone in my face. "If you were to describe this battle in one word, what would it be?"

"Uhhh, bitchin'!"

"There you have it! May Chirpie , metang and 'bitchin'! Mmmm...that's deep! There's a deep significance behind that quote! It's no surprise; a good trainer has good things to say. That's all for today! See you all again on our next broadcast!"

When the interview was finished, Ty turned off the camera and Gabby massaged her shoulder. Their defeated whismur and magnemite were spread in their pokeballs. The two looked more than satisfied with their results. "Good job kid! I mean it was expected that you would kick our butts, but you did it with style! Ty and I are heading back to Mauville so we can rest up. Let's meet up again for another interview, okay? Be seein' ya!" She said before giving me a wave and leaving.

 **...**

After that epic reunion, I marched ahead towards my next destination. There was a desert-like area that I wanted to explore, but every time that I got close, blasts of sand and wind would force me back from the area. Ugh! It looked so cool too! Through the kicked up grains of sand, I made out silhouettes of large rock outcroppings that looked interesting to explore.

Fortunately the tunnel known as the Fiery Path was clear of any obstacles and had plenty of Pokémon to catch. Almost like it was making up for my misfortune with the other two tunnels.

When I finally came out of the tunnel, the first thing I saw was a large tree with a thick grey colored trunk. It had many large outstretching branches that held countless of vibrant green leaves. The green vegetation seemed to be all concentrated where the branches clustered in the centered. Another thing that caught my attention was a man who surveyed the area around it. He wore a red hat and sported a small ponytail so his blond hair would get in the way of his line of sight. Although, he looked like he didn't get much sleep, the glint of excitement in his eyes suggested otherwise. He wore a tight-fitting t-shirt with red and blue triangles decorating the brown collar. His red shorts for some reason looked like they used to be pants and the leather holster around his waist had a bunch of flags stuffed in them. His thick, brown boots were dirty and I found myself wondering why he was holding onto a tattered, red jacket.

Now curious, I stole closer to the scene. "Scuse' me, are you looking for something?" I asked with an interested look. The man suddenly stopped what he was doing to looked over his shoulder and observe my presence. "Not really miss, just looking for anything unusual around this empty base,"

"Base? What are talking about? There's nothing here but an empty tree,"

At my response, he turned around to face me with mild surprise. "You mean...you don't know about secret bases?"

"Not really,"

The answer seemed to feel like that I walked up to the man and punched him in the stomach because he looked surprised and in disbelief.

"Wow! That is really sad! I mean REALLY sad considering how many trainers use them...you're a trainer right?" I nodded my head; though it did nothing to change his shock. He had to wait for it to go properly out of his system to continue. "Not to worry though, for I am the secret base expert, Aarune and I'll be more than happy to educate you about the wonderful world of secret bases!"

Oh boy. This sounded pretty pointless. I better go before I got sucked into another session of wasted hours of my life.

"Look, I'm in a hurry so-"

"Oh come on now! Don't be shy! This'll only take a minute!"

He came behind me and gently pushed me towards the trunk of the tree. At first, I had no idea what to expect - nor did I have the capacity to care. Aarune then dug inside a rucksack he produced and pulled out a disc case. It was a common sight considering that I had many in my pack as well; whether it was given to me or found on my travels. He handed it to me, but said not to put it away just yet.

"That disc I gave you holds the technical move: Secret Power. It's a move that changes its make of attack depending on the environment, buuut..." he paused to make some sort of dramatic effect. I should have said that it was stupid and didn't work.

"...it could be used for other things too! Try teaching it to one of your Pokémon right now!"

I stood there for a moment to figure out which one I should use it on (because I had the feeling that he wouldn't leave me alone if I refused). All of them were pretty good candidates for the move, but in the end, I decided that skitty would be the one to get it. The more the idea came into my head, the more hilarious that it seemed for a small, pink cat to launch some strange variety of attacks and taking her opponents by surprise. I grabbed skitty's pokeball and let her come out. When she did appear, the little animal looked around cautiously around itself for a minute out of fear that it would be subjected to a sea of people again. When she realized that it wasn't the case, she wagged her tail and meowed.

"Okay skitty, time to learn a new move!" I said while squatting down to see her better with the TM in hand. I opened the case and took out the disc to put it against her forehead. When I did this the first time with Chirpie (though it was the Hidden Move: Cut), I had no idea what to do with it. In fact, I tried to get him to eat it until Brendan showed me the right way to do it.

It took a moment for her mind to process the new move before meowing in confirmation that it was done. "Alright, what's next?" I asked the weird guy who was leaning against the trunk. "Okay, now tell skitty to use its secret power on that tree," he replied while stepping away from the large plant. My Pokémon and I turned to the thing with confidence gleaming in our eyes.

"Skitty, use Secret Power on that tree!"

A few seconds passed with nothing happening, but then an invisible force suddenly blasted out of the cat and sent waves of energy towards the tree. It shook the branches and a bright green vine came down. Aarune went over to it and began to climb. This new development now piqued my interest. I put skitty on my head before tensing my arm muscles to grab ahold of the vine and start to climb up myself. When I reached the top, I went through a strangely square-shaped opening through the leaves. "About time you got up here! I thought a year was gonna pass before you reached the top!" He taunted jokingly while I pulled myself on the wooden boards...wait a sec...why would this place nee-WOAH!

The three of us were now staring at an empty spacious room with the walls, ceiling and floor neatly made out of tan wood. There were two square openings cut in with mostly it's view of the outside being covered by leaves. However there was enough light filtering through to brighten up the room. In the corner was a small laptop, red flag and a round metal platform.

"Wow, this place is nice, what's that stuff over there in that corner?"

"Glad you asked! Come with me!"

 **...**

Aarune explained to me all there was to know about secret bases. The laptop was mainly for storing furniture and decorative items. Of course, I could surf the net and watch movies on it too. The red flag sitting right next to it represented the banner for the trainer's base. Other trainers that were curious enough to visit could collect the flag to say that they visited there. The metal platform on the floor was a transfer pad for the items on the laptop to materialize onto. He demonstrated by going on the small computer and chose to materialize a bed. When he pressed the 'enter' key, a comfortable-looking bed appeared on the pad.

No sooner had it arrived did I hop up on the pad and tried to move it. The task of getting it off the pad was difficult, but fortunately not impossible. Once I finished excitedly pushing it around, I went to the laptop this time so I could bring out more stuff. When all was said and done, the base was recently furnished. Needless to say, I spent pretty much all day in here.

"Man you really got into this huh? You should keep this base; it'll do you some good,"

"Hm, I guess I should. It is pretty nice,"

"It's settled then! All you need to do is give it a name,"

I racked my brain once again to figure out what decent name to call this place, but nothing great came to mind. Eventually I settled on naming after my last name.

"Hmmm, I declare this base to be named the Team Maple Base!"

Behind me, Aarune tried to hold in a laugh from how enthusiastically I said it. He failed completely to contain it as my ears caught his restrained snickers. I turned on my heels to face the man who dared to mock my coolness (or something that vaguely resembled it). He put his arms up in defense while my glare threatened to burn a hole in him.

"My bad kid! It's just that you sounded so over-the-top. *ahem* Anyways, I gotta get goin'. I'm going ahead, but if you're ever in Fortree City, go find the Secret Base Guild over there. That's where I'm at most of the time,"

We waved each other good-bye before he walked towards the opening on the floor. He turned to give me one last wave. After that, he lowered himself through and disappeared from sight.

 **...**

I spent my first night in the base with excited wonder. All of my Pokémon were out to look around our new hideout with excitement. Chirpie and metang were exchanging their opinions about the place as through gesturing to things, occasional squawks and metallic sounds. Of course I couldn't understand any of it, but they looked pleased. Casecoon stuck herself in one of the corners of the ceiling while wingull sat on a cushion. Skitty happily slept on the headboard of the bed and poochyena set aside her squeaking toy and started chewing on a wailmer doll. When it was time to go to sleep, we all piled on the bed. To say it was crowded was an understatement. Casecoon thankfully slept where she was, but the rest of us had to fit onto one mattress. It wouldn't have sounded so bad if my steel/esper-type didn't take up half of the space on the bed. It was also by some miracle that it didn't break under all of our combined weight. While nearly squished, we got some much needed rest.

The next day broke into a beautiful dawn and I decided for it to be an easy day. I surfed the net with all of my Pokémon crowding around the screen with me. It turns out that the Lilycove City Department Store had a website for purchasing secret base items. Each of my battle partners pointed at (or gestured to) an item that appealed to them. When it came time for my turn to choose, I mindlessly scrolled down a list of random items. I was gonna settle with another doll when my eyes suddenly caught something with a name that I unfortunately recognized. On the screen was a complete model of Lumiose City. The home to the Kalos region's own Professor Augustine Sycamore.

Flashbacks of the time spent with him in Mauville involuntarily flooded my thoughts. I remembered his charming smile being directed towards me while I was innocently resting on his shoulder while we sat on the bench near Square Tower and talked. Then I remembered the hate he purposely channeled at Wally and how he tricked me into going in his room and taking advantage of me! What a jerk! I shouldn't be giving him or his city another thought!

Despite what I felt, the virtual cart had a single order of a Lumiose City model added to it with the rest of a few things to be bought. I still hardly believed that I was actually getting the thing. Once everything was bought and paid for, they were sent to the laptop. I materialized the purchases on the pad and my Pokémon went nuts. All six immediately snatched up their playthings; leaving me there with a beautiful, detailed model of Lumiose City.

I pushed the new item to the center of the base and inspected it. The city was shaped like a pokeball with a large tower in the center. I recalled what Sycamore said and assumed that it was the Prism Tower. In some aspects, I could see the similarities it shared with its smaller counterpart in Mauville.

I then started looking at other parts of the model and found what was unmistakably the professor's lab. How could I possibly know that it was possibly his? Why because of the large pillars with pokeballs on them, fancy gates and a sycamore tree by it of course! Who else would be so conceited as to have those things decorating the front of their building? Unless the rest of Lumiose City was like him.

More hours passed with it spent on observing every other part of the faux city. I found a ton of cafés, shops and different gates that marked the end of Lumiose's territory. They must have been routes that led to other towns and cities. For some reason, looking at this model made me want to visit Kalos even more.

Eventually, it got late and it was time to go to bed again. My Pokémon were disappointed to be inconvienced by such a time, but I couldn't be so lenient about letting them stay up for too long; I wanted them to be in good shape. We all got into bed again (except casecoon) and went to sleep.

The next day, got early and put everyone back in their ball except skitty so we could practice for the next Contest Spectacular in Fallarbor Town. I certainly didn't want a repeat of last time or worse. To keep her focused, I used that stupid ball of thread as an incentive. The approach seemed to work as we successfully rehearsed moves and cues. After we got enough practice in, I let skitty play while I did something entirely different.

"Maple style! Flaming Bird Counter! No, that doesn't sound right,"

In the event that I would face Team Magma again, I wanted to improve my skills and think up some names for them. When I was at Wanda's house, I talked with Timmy and he recommended that I should take up something called 'Wing Chun'. It was...sorta going ok. "Maple style! Burning Jab of Fury! Ugh, that was bad," I said to myself with sweat rolling down my face as I pushed on.

"Going over violent mangling tactics are we?"

Every muscle in my body froze upon what I thought I heard was a terribly familiar voice. That couldn't be right! As far as I knew, he was still in Verdanturf Town or at least Mauville City! Some parts of my body managed to recover from the shock and my neck turned to see...huh?

I looked to where I thought I heard the source of the disturbance but there was nothing to be seen. Hm, maybe I was just hallu- **GOOD ARCEUS**!

Just as I was fooled into believing that it was all a figment of a convoluted imagination, my head turned to see a tall, calm Sycamore practically towering over me with his impossibly overwhelming smile on his handsome features. I automatically jumped back with the fright of the sudden invasion of space, but then changed my expression into an angry scowl. My guard quickly came up as I now began to interrogate the professor.

"How did you get up here?! How did you even find me?!... **WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE**?!"

My questions seemed to amuse him, for a light chuckle escaped his lips while scanning me from head to toe. His smugness really started to bug me. "It really wasn't difficult to put together what your destinations are as a trainer and not notice all the shouting and noises that were coming from an otherwise silent tree. However, I believe it is me who should be asking all the questions since it was you who abandoned me to the wilderness and wasted time with a boy that your father happens to despise," he replied in a surprisingly playful tone. From how I saw him talk to Wally, I thought it would be the same way with me.

"My dad hates all boys and I ran away from a hotel room that you locked me into! And speaking of boys: What did you do to Wally?! You better not have hurt him!"

My arguments and accusations reached his ears, but all it did make him more excited; especially the part about locking me in his room. "You sound as though I butchered the boy alive or fed him to savage beasts! I assure you that he's quite whole and well...physically anyway,"

I was about to think of ways to inflict pain on him when skitty heard all the commotion and lit up when seeing the professor. Before I could stop her, she was already by Sycamore's leg; burying her head into his pant leg and mewling for his attention. Of course the handsome jerk couldn't resist giving proof of trumping my superiority by picking her up and petting her head. My scowl hardened, but he pretended to ignore my reaction and talk to my Pokémon.

"I am very glad to see you too my dear! I apologize that your cold, heartless master keeps us apart! It is such a wonder that she continues her attempts to fly away from me; going as far as to nest in a tree!"

While he was continuing to ramble on about me 'cruel and terrible', I began to plot how to kick him out of my base. He was sort of close to the entrance. Maybe if I gave him a really good shove, then it would easily solve my problem. Sure a fall from that height could possibly break a limb or two, but it would be a worthy sacrifice (on his part). However, he still had skitty in his clutches. It would be a little tricky to grab her while pushing him back. Maybe if I-"Oh, what do we have here?"

Sycamore unexpectedly caught something with his gaze and walked away from the opening. My thoughts came back to reality and I cringed as he saw the model of Lumiose. His smile grew with newfound ammo to shoot me with. My face grew hot from the inevitable embarrassment that was doomed to follow. As expected, the professor laughed with the knowledge that I not only bought the thing, but made it the center of attention in my base.

"Miss May Maple! I am very surprised!" he declared with up most sarcasm while putting down skitty and studying the thing. "All those statements of hatred rolling off that sharp tongue of yours, but come to find a near perfect replica of my beautiful city in this adorable, little tree house of yours?! It is quite a shock!"

I immediately stormed over there to shove him away from the damming evidence. When I tried to though, he remained sturdy and unaffected by my attempts. Was he glued there or something?! "I don't hate Lumiose, I just hate YOU! Now go fuck off before I throw you out in the most painful way I can think of!" I threatened with my arms pushing his torso so he could move. I was feeling so angry and mortified at the same time; I didn't think that feeling such extreme emotions to the max simultaneously could happen.

"And yet another surprise to pique my interests,"

Sycamore suddenly caught my face in between his hands before leveling his own to my height. The action shocked me to freeze as I wondered what he meant by that. He then moved his thumbs to trace my ears down to their lobes; lightly brushing against the holes poked in them. I screwed my eyes shut to prevent myself from looking into his hypnotic gaze.

"I can only wonder what you have been doing that required you to pierce your ears. Won't you tell me my lovely birdie?"

His voice was almost in a hushed whisper and felt them pass through my hearing like it was soft silk. Although, I knew that if I told him, it wouldn't go well for me. My hands shot up to his shirt and seized them to pull him forward. The professor did not expect my rashness as his eyes widened with surprise. With growing tightness from clenching his silken top, it gave me the courage to speak up.

"Listen asshole, that's my business! I'll never give you the sadistic pleasure of telling every single detail of my life that doesn't need to involve you! You're just the idiot who decided to tag along and attempt to ruin my magical journey experience! So get the hell out no-"plink!

I was nearly done with my speech when I pulled too hard on his shirt and ripped off one of his unbuttoned buttons by accident. The two of us turned our heads and watched it bounce a few times, start rolling across the floorboards and finally stop. It was a very scary silence as I realized that I damaged his property and promptly released him to back away.

The professor remained where he was for a minute before standing tall again to close his eyes. That lasted for a second before he opened them with a malicious smile spreading across his lips. "Dear, look what you've done!" he said with growing excitement in his voice and started to move forward."You've ruined one of my favorite shirts! How can I possibly wear this now?"

"You never even button that one! I'll get you another shirt if you're complaining so much about it!" I said with a hint of anxiety in my tone. More than enough to have an even hungrier look in his eyes. My back touched the back of the wall of the base and I cursed myself for not minding my surroundings. Now assured that I couldn't run away, he took his time to close in.

"I don't think that's possible, darling. It's quite expensive and the only place to find them is in Lumiose. However, I believe I can settle with returning the favor,"

"Wait! I don't have any buttons!"

"I'll think of something ..."

The danger felt real now as he got close and his arm stretched out for my top. The wheels turned in my head to think of a plan and eyes quickly darted to the side of him and widened.

" **DAD**! What are you doing here?!"

A look of surprise suddenly crossed the professor's face as he turned his head to see...absolutely nothing. Of course when he looked back, he saw the same thing. That's because I quickly crouched down and went through his legs to grab skitty and dash for freedom. Hah! What a maroon! He totally fell for the oldest trick in the book!

Before I completely escaped, I couldn't help but let out a laugh, flip him the middle finger and say: "So long Sycamore!"

 ***Continued in chapter 16***


	16. Chapter 16

The first thing I felt when I was consciously aware of myself had been a thick, warm blanket covering me and laying on a plushy futon. The air smelled of boiled tea leaves while every now and again, my ears caught the sound of footsteps. I moaned as I started to rub my face with sluggish hands. The second I touched a part of my forehead however, pain started to radiate from a small bump that sat on my face. "Oh hell!" I exclaimed as I quickly sat up and nursed the injury.

"Hey kid, you're finally awake! I was starting to get worried for a sec! How are ya feelin'?"

After taking a few minutes of collecting myself, I weakly opened my eyes and turned to see Aarune sitting at a small, wooden table drinking tea from a ceramic cup. "My head...what happened?" I managed to croak out and laid back down; my body suddenly began to feel really sore. The secret base expert finished his drink before helping himself to more from the black pot on the table.

"Well..."

 **-Third Person P.O.V-**

 _"So long Sycamore!" May_ _boasted_ _with upmost arrogance as she had flipped him the middle finger before jumping through the entrance opening; completely forgetting that the only safe means to get in and out was climbing the bright green vine. Overall, leaping straight down wasn't the brightest idea._ _Aarune_ _meanwhile was coming around back to the area to check on the trainers to see how their secret base building was going. So far, everything seemed to be going okay. Well it_ _was, until he got to May's_ _base._ _Just when he got close to the tree, the trainer's blurred form suddenly flashed passed his eyes and stopped abruptly as she met the ground with a loud grunt._

 _"Oh shit!"_

 _Aarune broke into a run and caught up to the now knocked out May Maple to inspect her for any serious injuries. Fortunately, the only thing he saw physically wrong with her had been a swollen knot forming on her forehead._ _It was too early to tell if there was anything else amiss. At the same time, he was curious about what had made the girl crazy enough to just jump out without thinking, but helping her was a more important priority. Thankfully, there was a small rest house near the base._

 _With some effort, he slung the trainer over his shoulder and carried the girl along with a now trembling skitty attached to his hat._

 **-End of Third Person P.O.V-**

"And that's how we ended up here! I have to say that it was pretty stupid of you to jump out like that. You're lucky that you didn't break a leg or anything," he said before taking another sip of his tea. I let out another groan from realizing my idiocy and pulled the blankets over my head.

 **...**

Once he made sure that I was somewhat in good health, Aarune bid us (the old lady who owned the rest house and I) good-bye and left for his travels. Not long after that, I started to get up. The old woman insisted for me to lie back down and focus on recovering, but I grimaced at the idea of being lazy while the poor old person worked her fingers to the bone. As my form of gratitude, I began to help tidy up the house.

Skitty wasn't very happy with me about on account of nearly killing us both from the terrifying jump I made. She merely laid on the zabuton* and glared at me whenever I had been her line of sight. There was a suspicion that she was also angry about her playtime with Sycamore being terribly cut short. As if it wasn't bad enough that I had to watch out for Metang's disobedience in battle, but now I had to patch up my relationship with Skitty!

Later that evening after the bathroom was clean, my party and I took a bath. The restroom had a big and square wooden bathtub with a small wooden bucket and platform. The tiles on the wall were little tan squares and the floor was decorated with larger, grey ones. The sliding window was slightly ajar so that the occupant wouldn't be too overwhelmed with the steam.

I wrapped a towel around my torso and put up my hair and started washing Chirpie. The firebird enjoyed the experience as it squawked happily when I washed his feathers. He seemed to have liked the water when it wasn't being forcefully sprayed at him. After him was metang; it was a little awkward because of its gaze intensely on me when I started scrubbing its hard surface. The steel/esper-type probably wanted to make sure that I didn't miss a single spot. Casecoon outright refused to take one as her body stuck fiercely to my arm before I could put her in. She seemed to be afraid of the hot water for some reason; I wonder what that was all about. Wingull on the other hand got excited cried out to pour a bucket of water over her head. Shortly before her turn was done, she silently sat in it and swam around in circles. Poochyena kept lapping it up and sprayed me with droplets when she shook herself dry. Good thing I wasn't wearing my night clothes. Finally, I got to skitty. While I was able to get her clean, she glared at me the whole time. Geez skitty! How long are you planning to keep this up?!

When I was finished with them, it was my turn to wash up. After the wooden bath was filled with water, I slipped in. I was there for a while with my mind on planning what to do for tomorrow. There was no doubt about leaving early. If Sycamore could find me in a tree house base, then I certainly would t be hard to track me to a rest house not that far away from it. *sighs* I feel so tired.

 **...**

The next morning, I woke up extra early to depart. There were many urges to stay asleep on the comfortable futon, but the possible consequences forced my still aching body to move. I left some money on the table and cautiously stepped outside where the smell of ash greeted me. It wasn't overwhelming at first, but as I journeyed onward, the scent became stronger. The air was dry, but warm as I peered into the night that was slowly dissipating from the breaking of dawn.

What I noticed from the other places I traveled, was that the morning here turned into a dull grey instead of the vibrant mix of colors I had grown used to. It almost felt like it could suck all the fun hues and life out of everything that decided to come through here. Suddenly, I noticed that flakes of ash started to fall gracefully like misunderstood snow. Metang (whom I chose to let out this time) looked around itself with wonder as almost everything was covered in the bleak dust. It would occasionally shake itself of the stuff; a fairly easy thing to do when you're made of metal. I was doing the same, but it was difficult since I had skin and sweat to keep it stuck on. I gave up after dusting myself off for the fifth time.

We started to go in the tall grass when a small group of children dressed as ninjas jumped out and nearly gave the both of us a heart attack (or whatever he had that qualified as one). There were five of them with their Pokémon already summoned out. Five koffings with their kind of nightmarish expressions rushed forward. I abruptly fell back with surprise, for they looked to be aiming an assault on me and made my pack come loose off me. Before I could get caught in their line of fire however, metang swung in front of my view and used its heavy arm to slam into one of its opponents. The gaseous thing fell back instantly and fainted. The actions of the movement kicked up the ash; clouding the trainers, Pokémon and myself.

I looked around cautiously as everything fell silent with the exception of the distant humming sound that came from my battle partner. Then, a big purple gas-inflated ball came out from the cover of kicked up ash and came right for me. Instantly, I dove out of the way before it could hit. I don't understand: Why was it attacking ME?! Were their trainers bandits and this was an ambush? That would make sense since there were five of them. When I did it in Slateport, it was because of Team Magma; otherwise, I stuck to the traditional rules of a trainer battle.

The lodging turned around and started making these strange gurgling noises from...wherever it came from before it spat out a gob of purple goo at me. It was only by mere inches that it missed, but the attack still made my heart skip several beats. If it ever successfully landed, it would be more than just damage that'll be inflicted.

People that got hit with a Pokémon's poison generally didn't have a great experience. The only person alive in the world, who was able to resist it, was the Fuchsia City's gym leader, Koga. He kept the secret from anyone who wasn't within his family.

Back into the reality of running for my life, I tried to find cover for myself but another koffing appeared to block my path. It too started to make those gross sounds and prepared to drown me in its poison. So this is how I was going out?! Ambushed by a bunch of koffings?! That wasn't fair at all!

Just as it launched the poisonous goop at me, I squeezed my eyes shut and braced myself for the worst!...and kept bracing...and bracing...man, when was it gonna be ove-

I opened my eyes slowly and realized that the assault was stopped by metang's arm. Hanging on the other one was my pack. The steel/esper-type gave out a furious metallic sound and sent out waves of a bright purple color at the poison-type. The move drove it in turmoil and fell down. My Pokémon then turned to the other one and quickly made it fall by punching it square in its inflated torso.

When it was deemed safe, I climbed on metang and hugged its body with static relief. "Good arceus! I am VERY glad to see you again!" I exclaimed while my head rested on its ash-dusted surface. Now that we were reunited, our plan was to finish off the other two Pokémon and confront the ninja kid bandits. They were going to taste the fury of May Maple; and it would be ridiculously spicy.

I grabbed my pack from metang and put it on as the other two koffings appeared to engage in battle. Metang didn't give them any time to think up an attack as it brutally slammed itself into one of them. To be honest that was a very scary moment, for I was too unprepared for the sudden choice of assault and was just barely able to hang on. Maybe I should command it before it goes crazy and attacks the trainers."Okay metang, let's just use-"

The final koffing didn't even get a chance to blink before it connected to my Pokémon's heavy fist and forced it to slap against a rock. Okay...that's one way to do it.

"Oh no, koffing!"

No sooner had we defeated the last one, did one of the kids come out and try to return it to its ball. When he came within our view, I jumped down to face him with an angry scowl on my face. "Hold it right there you little brat!" I ordered fiercely with a pointing finger. The kid ninja became startled and jumped back.

"I hope you little monsters have a dam good excuse for trying to attack me; even though I'm not gonna listen to it anyway-"

"You're a person?"

"...whaddya mean 'I'm a person'?"

"Um..."

 **...**

It turned out that the reason for the attack was because all the ash that covered the two of us and my bow gave off the appearance that metang and I were roaming wild Pokémon. Because of this, I couldn't find any fault in the misunderstanding...though that didn't stop me from giving each of them a goose egg on their heads for my troubles. With that dangerous scenario behind us, we went onwards across the bleak-looking route.

"So, you wanna tell me what that was all about?" I said with a mischievous look on my face as we walked/ hovered along. It turned to look at me, but quickly looked back ahead in an attempt to avoid the now looming subject. "Giving me the silent treatment, eh? Nice try, but you're not fooling anybody! I know you care about me! Even though you don't like to listen-OH FUCK!"

I didn't pay attention to where I was stepping and got my foot caught in a ditch. My balance was lost and I fell on top of a sharp rock that effortlessly punctured the skin of my arm. Pain shot through and shocked the rest of my body. Nevertheless, I quickly shot up and sat back to feel the wound with shaky fingers; they were smeared with blood. The injury hurt so much that tears sprang into my eyes and I whimpered in the start of a cry.

Suddenly, I felt my bow being moved around on my head. I looked up to see metang's glow as he used his telekinesis to take out my bandanna. It then floated through the air and tied around my arm. My Pokémon then lowered its three-stubbed arm and did something that resembled ruffling my hair. I was certainly surprised by the action. The same metang that disobeyed me in battle whenever it got too strong without having enough badges as proof of superiority did something that I never expected it to do; care about me. I thought that it only cared about a mandatory obligation of keeping me alive and wanted those tender caresses for the sake of sating the need of attention. Was the disobedience actually because of my appearance as a small, weak thing that needed to be constantly watched over and took on the role of a protective parent? Maybe, and I would get very pissed off if it was the actual reason. However, the tender act it made caused more tears well up in my eyes.

I stood up and pressed the side of my face against metang's body while giving it a hug. "*sniffles* Thank you, metang,"

Fuck, I hope there wasn't anything else out here to see me cry.

 **...**

We continued on until found a small house in the midst of the ash-colored landscape. It didn't look like a rest house, but maybe there might be some chance could stay the night by doing some chores or pay money. When we finally got there, it turned out that the owner of the house ran a glass-blowing business. In return for spending a night, I had to go out and collect ash in a sack. That shouldn't be too hard considering how much got on me. For some reason though, it took nearly two hours to get the sack filled twice. The owner thought I did such a good job that he blew three glass flutes for me. Fortunately, I didn't have to be talented for them to work. He explained that the yellow one snapped a Pokémon out of confusion, the blue one woke them up from sleeping and the one that caused me that sparked my jealousy was the red one; its purpose of having a Pokémon get over its infatuations. Naturally, an unsavory, but blush-making image of THAT fucking professor came into my mind; so I ventured some questions.

"So, can you make one that works on people?"

"Uh, not really,"

"Is there anyone you know who can?"

"That's not possible Miss,"

"...how about now?"

"There's no such thing!"

Well at least I could sell the thing if I needed to. It just sucked that Pokémon got all the good stuff.

After spending the night, I ate breakfast with the owner and his son before setting out again. The sky was pretty much the same as yesterday: Grey and dancing with ash. Today, Chirpie was with me as we traveled onward and he reveled in playing with the ash. It didn't even take him less than a minute to be covered head-to-talon in the stuff. I made a mental note to give myself and Chirpie a shower the second we got to town.

Everything seemed to be fine and dandy until-"whoops! My bad!" Said a person who suddenly bumped into me. The slightly rough impact made me fall onto the ash-blanketed ground; covering me in it once again. My firebird came and helped me to my feet with a cry of alarm. When my sight focused on the newcomer, I could understand why.

That was because the person who bumped into me was a Team Magma grunt! There was no doubt about it with the color scheme of red with that stupid hoodie and nerdy shorts over that onsie sweater thing. Instantly, my anger started to flare up with the thirst to punch something. "What's a Team Magma grunt doing here?! Trying to rob innocent travelers and harassing scientists and old people?!" I accused with clenched fists. Normally, I would have just attacked the thug outright and lifted their wallet, but this one in particular was a fellow girl. I had the mindset of attempting to dissuade them from continuing their criminal activities; anyone could tell by my statement how well that was going.

The grunt just let out a laugh and leaned on a convenient rock. "Well, I'm kinda taking a break. It was pretty thirsty work this morning just being up trainers. But old people and nerds aren't good sport. You seem to be in good shape though..."

I was a little surprised by her response. Not because of what she said, but how she said it; very sarcastic and animated. The majority of the Team Magma grunts I encountered were all serious and stiff. Despite the differences, it was clear that she was up to no good around here. "If you stop your heinous acts now, then I won't hafta kick your ass!"

"No thanks! I get to do whatever I want while wearing this uniform! You know how many cops I passed on the way here without any one of them even glancing in my direction? I even attacked one just to see what would happen! Lo and behold, his candy ass did nothin'! I don't think I wanna be a goody-two-shoes like girl scout like you. By the way: Have any thin mints you can sell me?"

That's it! She's going down!

"Nobody calls me a girl scout and walks away without a black eye! Prepare your ass for battle!"

Immediately, Chirpie jumped in front of me and gave out a squawking war cry. The grunt looked excited and got up from her leaning position. On her belt, she pulled off a pokeball. I was looking forward to beating her in battle and then physically beating her up while taking her wallet as spoils. Then to pour Sal in her wounds, I would use her money to buy cookies. "Here's the deal..." She said while playing with the sphere. "You can use your whole team if you want, but I'll stick to one. If you beat me, then you can take me to jail and whatnot, got it?"

"Yeah, yeah! Now bring out your Pokémon out so Chirpie can curb stomp it!"

I was fuming from the insult and planned on being cruel with my strategy to defeat whatever she was gonna throw at me. What I didn't know at the time though, was what had been hidden behind those scarlet-colored eyes was not empty bragging rights, but time and experience. The grunt said nothing in response and threw out the pokeball. A bright light came out and took shape. What I also didn't expect was a Pokémon that was much bigger than any zubat, numel or poochyena to come out; nevermind the fact that it looked more terrifying. It had the appearance of a dinosaur that easily surpassed my height of four feet. The thing was dark brown with sharp teeth and small arms. Wow, didn't see that coming.

"Wipe the floor with them tyrantum!"

 ***To be continued in chapter 17***

*Zabuton = Chair cushion


	17. Chapter 17

_Hello my darling readers! Due to a busy week, I'll post both chapters today and hopefully catch up to be ahead of you all. If not, then I might have to go on a hiatus to catch up. Sorry for the inconvenience in advance, but I hope that you all both enjoy these chapters for now!_

I found myself face down on the ground again and had the terrible taste of ash in my mouth. That last attack sent poochyena and I back. My dark-type had been the last one on my team that was still conscious. What I initially thought was gonna be an easy battle turned into a nightmare. "Okay tyrantrum, come back!" I heard the female grunt say before the sound of footsteps came towards me. Poochyena's grunting noises also came close and the noise of its paws were near my ears as it stood as best she could to defend me. The grunt looked down at my Pokémon for a moment in wonderment.

"Oh, so that's how it is..." She muttered when I finally picked up my head to look up at her. Surprisingly, there was no mocking smile on her face like my bitter fantasy played it out to be. It looked more...light-hearted. That expression lasted mere seconds before twisting into a playful grin. "I was just gonna finish you off and take your stuff, but my break's just about over. But don't think I'm gonna go easy on ya next time!" The grunt said before I received a boot to the face.

-Third Person P.O.V-

 _After the grunt was finished with May Maple, a soft cry was heard from behind her despite the loud barking sounds coming from the poochyena. "There you are! Are you done having fun yet! We got stuff to do!" She said playfully as a small whismur popped out of the tall grass walked towards her. The Pokémon made another sound in response that its business was done. The grunt laughed and gave her a pat on the head. "Man Aster, I spoil you too much!"_

-End of Third Person P.O.V-

Several hours passed before I woke up again and found my poochyena attempting to pull me to help by my shoe. Even though I failed in battle, she was willing to stay and try to drag my body to safety. I found some comfort in knowing that my recent failures didn't completely impact the relationship of the team in a negative way.

Now that I was awake, I gave poochyena a grateful pat on the head and sent her back into her pokeball. It was only fair that I hoofed it to the next town by myself after my partners went through so much. Fortunately, soreness and an aching head were the only injuries I sustained, so walking wasn't an issue.

About an hour and forty-five minutes of steady paced walking revealed a change in the weather of the area. Though the air still smelled of ash, the quantity of the grey flakes started to fall down less and less until I found the sky to be a delightful blue with not a speck of ash in the sky.

Another hour of walking rewarded me with the beginnings of a small civilization that created Fallarbor Town. The hard packed dirt crunching under my feet was a reddish-brown color with noticeable craters punched into them. The homes there were an earthy hue with olive green rooftops; the exceptions being the Contest Spectacular building, Pokémon center and mart. Going on further, I noticed a house that was three times bigger than the others. It had a large telescope sticking out of the roof. I wondered if I would be able to get a peek through its lens someday.

My first destination was obviously the Pokémon center. No time had been wasted to dash up to the counter and nearly put those pokeballs on the conveyor belt myself. When they were all healed up, I apologized to each one of my battle partners and vowed to train them harder. It grated my nerves to be beaten by a thug who belonged to an organization with very shady purposes. No doubt that something might be going on around here; though nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary for the moment.

While contemplating on that thought, I decided to spend that evening at an in with all the shit that's been happening. When that decision became a reality, the bathtub was the first to come to mind. Getting cuts. Bruises and bumps on the head were certainly very good reasons aside the hundred pounds of ash caking you. For the first time in a while, I felt really spent; not like two nights go where I jumped out my tree house, but really worn out mentally and physically. My head felt like it was about to burst. Did dad ever feel like this? He always looked to be in control of things, even when he was tired.

After the much needed bath, crawled underneath the blankets of my futon*. My head laid on the soft pillow until my weary thoughts were chased away by sleep.

 **...**

I woke up to a greyish-blue dawn that stole through the circle-shaped window. Despite the dreary-looking morning, my body felt amazingly refreshed. It was almost like I didn't take any beatings or something. Time to face the day!

Getting ready didn't take long and breakfast was filling as well as delicious. I was determined to get stronger so the whole day was dedicated to training my entire team by a grassy ash-free place by the town. There was also a large cave close by in a mountain range called Meteor Falls, but I decided not to go there just yet for the sake of focusing on training. The last thing I wanted to do was get lost in a cave.

Our session overall had been fantastic and two of my Pokémon even evolved! Casecoon was the first in doing so as its lavender, silken barrier suddenly split open. I was rather curious and peeked inside. As my eyes peered into the shell, a large purple moth with pine green wings crawled out of it. That certainly wasn't any beautifly; she looked a little scary. However, she was still the same spunky bug that I had grown attached to. I knelt down to stretch my arm out so she could perch herself on it, but the newly formed dustox merely looked at me with her compound eyes, gave out an excited cry and started to eat the cocoon she had been previously stored in. That was very dam gross. The second one to evolve was wingull. She turned from a small gull to a large blue and white pelican that was nearly bigger than me. We both looked at each other for a moment before the Pokémon flew right above me and nestled herself on my head. She was heavy, by not too bothersome on my body. Hopefully, this knack she had wasn't going to be a bad habit.

I was so pleased with the day's results that I extended the training session to three more days. It was tough and exhausting, but my team and I were proud of our progress. My relationship with skitty was getting better again as she finally stopped glaring at me with anger, but I had yet to receive any tender affection from her. A long way to go I guess.

Speaking of skitty, Lisia finally arrived in Fallarbor the next day for the Contest Spectacular. The teen gladly welcomed (or rather pulled) me into the dressing room to change over. Upon seeing the scar on my arm and bruises I sustained, Lisia began to make more of a scene than usual and scold me for being so careless with myself. "You may be a trainer, but can still be a cautious one! Lucky for your adorable self, we can cover that all up!". Oh joy, more makeup. Instead of fighting it though, I forced myself to stay in place as she applied the cosmetics. The experience was still torturous, but it would go faster if I just endured it.

When the process was complete, Lisia left me alone with my cat Pokémon to practice some last minute warm-ups. It went well as long as the red ball of thread was there to be waved around. I was still annoyed by how much it had an effect on her.

After we practiced a bit, it was time to make our appearance onstage. This time around, the two of us faced the crowd with cutesy faces. While I wasn't so afraid like before, my pride was still taking a beating.. One of the few reasons for keeping up this whole thong (other than the possibility of Lisia hunting me down) was defeating that middle-aged man and his slakoth. For now though, we would have to settle with second place.

The teen idol congratulated me on our success with a happy squeal that followed with a big hug. Even Ali chirped with excitement while talking with skitty. While it was supposed to be a merry celebration, I couldn't help but be disinterested. Already an hour passed after the contest was over and still no sign of Brendan. I tries texting him with the pokenav, but there was no response. Was he blowing me off? As far as I know, he hadn't complained to me about anything I did or said. Whatever it was, I hoped to confront him about it later.

Now outside the Contest Spectacular building, the four of us said our good-byes and split up into our respective pairs to retire for the night. Almost winning the contest was an excuse I made to spend another night in the inn. Instead of quickly falling asleep like last time, I stayed up while my thoughts inevitably drifted to the one person who (since in the early beginnings of my journey) made my entire being go into turmoil.

No matter what I did, there wouldn't be much of a gap in time where I could stop thinking about him. In his presence, ( where I made it a mission to do so if it could be helped) an angry/ annoyed expression would form on my face that was inspired to rebuke his attempts to capture and play with me as he wished. When I was alone, my mouth quivered as I couldn't get rid of the short images in my brain that pictured his princely features. What made the hopeless addiction inescapable was the craving he forced upon me with his intoxicating lips. I didn't want it before...but now...deep down...ugh! I just wanted some decent sleep! No matter how much I wished for it though, slumber that night was uncomfortable and torturous.

 **...**

It was just before dawn when I woke up and prepared to train before going back to see if the cable car was fixed. I didn't want to linger in this town longer than necessary. Chirpie walked beside me outside of the inn as the stars above us began to fade away in the face of an oncoming dawn. Early mornings always had a fresh feeling that beckoned me to sit down and revel in its soothing beauty.

When we finally made our way to the tall grass, I stopped for a moment to get a glimpse of the mountainous area where Meteor Falls was supposed to be. I normally did that for the past three times I was here to enjoy the nice scenery, but today made it feel like something was off. I couldn't put my finger on it and I had the sudden urge to explore that area. The firebird was about to go into the grass when I stopped him. "Change of plans today! We're going up the mountain!" I declared while pointing my finger upwards towards the range. Chirpie looked where I was gesturing to and went to me with both of his hands raised in a demand that I was very familiar with. I made that same gesture to my father many years ago. I eyed him with a look that meant I knew what he was trying to pull, but there was ultimately no way to resist those adorable squawks and pleading face.

"Alright, alright! I'll carry you, but you're coming down the mountain on your own okay? I might not have the energy to get us both back down,"

 **...**

Up the mountainous part of the region, the two of us hiked at a careful pace; or rather it was I who did all the hiking while Chirpie gave me moral support by shouting cheers of encouragement. Giving him a piggy back ride wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I knew that exhaustion would change my mind when it hit, so no change of plans to give him a lift back were made. Besides, the exercise would do him some good. And as he held onto my shoulders, he would occasionally turn his head to look down so he could how high up we were. Thankfully, neither of us were afraid of heights.

When we eventually reached the top, I sat down abruptly while trying to suck in air. A little hard to do when my lungs felt like they were on fire from working extra. Chirpie got off my back and nuzzled it's head against my arm as he squawked in appreciation. His energy was too much for me sometimes, but I could never ignore him.

"Hey stop! Let the professor go!"

My head shot up and looked ahead to see four far away figures. One of them who voiced the demand was laying on the ground and struggling to get up while the other three were moving away from it. That wasn't all; the person who had was currently laying on the ground was instantly recognizable.

"Brendan!"

I couldn't do a full run from most of my stamina being used on climbing this stupid range, so I had to settle with a light jog. Chirpie however, was faster and met up with the poor teen to help him up before I could reach them. Whe I finally met up with my former travel companion, I could see that he looked terribly roughed up. His clothes her dirtied and torn from a possibly violent confrontation. More notably on his face, he had a fresh black eye with a few scratches marking his features. When Brendan saw me, he tried to downplay the pain of his injuries by keeping his mouth in a tight line whenever he moved.

"May-Oh hell!"

"What happened?! You look awful!"

"I'll be fine! But right now I need you to help me with something!"

"Help you with what?! You look like your about to keel over!"

I tried to force him to go down the mountain with me for medical attention, but when he told me about a more serious situation, I reluctantly agreed upon postponing the plan for later. Apparently, Brendan got into town mid afternoon yesterday and met up with Fallarbor's own Professor Cozmo. The scientist told him about an interesting meteorite that he stumbled upon a few days earlier and planned on excavating it today. However, their plans were interrupted when they reached the top and were ambushed by two members of Team Magma. Brendan tried to act all tough like me and fend them off with his own physical strength. However, he ended up being a punching bag when it was found out that his manners stopped him from hitting a girl and the other was a man who was much bigger than him. After he was down, the two had taken the professor. While the admittance of his blunder must have sounded humiliating to say out loud, it was admiring to see that he was honest about it. Now he just needed to work on beating up bad guys.

Giving him no room for protest, I threatened to knock him out if he refused a piggy back ride from me. I pointed out that we would be wasting time with him struggling with his steps if I just supported him with my shoulders. He mumbled something about his man card being taken away, but gave in at the end. To ensure that I had the Stamina to accomplish the feet. Brendan gave me an energy bar to eat before I helped him on my back.

"Alright Brendan! Let's go kick some Magma ass!"

 **...**

Twenty minutes of traveling with a hurt Brendan paid off as the journey rewarded us with seeing the entrance to the cave. At this point, the passenger on my back was starting to get heavier with each passing step, but I pressed on. Meanwhile, Chirpie went ahead to see if he could help intercept the foes first. He quickly went into the cave with quick feet. I didn't like that idea and forced myself to go faster.

"Chirpie wait up! It's not sa-Woah!"

I was about to call him back when my gaze was suddenly greeted by the sight of a spacious cavern with tan limestone. The large stalagmites pointed menacingly down upon its visitors while dripping water as if it threatened to break off and skewer us with its drop. The main features that stole the limelight were the large, rushing falls of clear water.

"May! There they are!"

Brendan's alarm focused me back and made my sight lock onto three people across a little wooden bridge. The more feeble of the three was kneeling down on the ground with a brush and small pick in his hand; he must have been forced to unearth that meteorite that my friend was talking about. The other two that stood menacingly over the weaker one wore a dark red color that clearly matched the uniforms for the brutish organization. I put Brendan down and ran across the bridge with vengeance.

"Hold it right there Magma thugs!" I shouted as I skidded to a stop with Chirpie following behind. His feathers were all ruffles up with anger. All three suddenly looked up from their previous attention to focus on me. One of them was indeed a girl; though not the one I fought on route 113 (thank arceus!). Her cohort was a large, chubby man in his late twenties with an ultra baby face. His cheeks were so puffy that I couldn't tell if his eyes were open. The man's dark hair had the style of side swept bangs that was visible from his unhooded appearance.

"Hm? Another child appears?! What is it with children trying to get in my way?!"

"Tabi-Tabi-san! That's the girl who stopped us in Slateport!"

The man glared at his subordinate for a brief moment from the obvious distaste of his nickname, but then put his gaze back on my form. There was a short silence of processing what he saw before breaking out a small laugh. Clearly he thought I wasn't a small threat; just like his nerdy boss.

"Really?! That's the girl who stopped a dozen members of Team Magma from completing a simple task?! She looks so dam harmless and adorable! How you all screwed that up is beyond me!"

As the man began to step forward with the young woman right behind him, Brendan was now at my side with a pokeball in hand. He also looked at me with mild surprise at the piece of news. "You kicked the ass of a dozen Team Magma thugs all by yourself?! Are you even human?!" He asked with bewilderment.

"Well...a few moms did call me a demon when I was seven,"

"Oh...right,"

When he got close enough to the both of us, the Team Magma member took out a pokeball from his belt with the girl following suit. Honestly, I got s little nervous out of remembrance of my failure from my last encounter with one of their grunts. However, I held my gorund with my battle face put on. Backing out now would only show cowardice.

"So it seems that we meet at last, little girl! I am the Great Leader Maxie's right hand man, the Great Admin Tabitha! We don't have time to fuck around here so I'll destroy you along with your stupid as quickly as I can! It's time that nosy children like you learn to stay out of an adult's business!"

He then enlarged the ball and threw it out to reveal a koffing; man I was getting sick of seeing those. The grunt unleashed a large, black and grey dog with intimidating red eyes. Hm, so that's what poochyena would evolve into. "Alright Kippie! I choose you!" Shouted Brendan as he threw his spherical device. It bounced twice before sending out a light blue creature with several black fins that stood on its hind legs. It also had thick orange whiskers on its cheeks. Brendan's mudkip had turned into a marshtomp. Chirpie jumped in front and gave a respectful nod to its battle partner and let out a war squawk.

The koffing was the first to act as it squeezed out thick smoke to lay out cover on the battleground. We both squinted our eyes in desperate need to see what was happening. Anxious moments passed as silence filled the air, but then suddenly broke from a bark of command that I wasn't able to hear clearly. The sound of mightyena's claws tapping against the ground were now in a swift pace while charging forward and seizing kippie by the leg with its powerful maw. The poor, little Pokémon cried out in pain and attempted to rid itself of the beast. Brendan nearly cried out with shock as his precious 'little girl'was being assaulted.

"Kippie baby! Hang on!"

"Chirpie, double kick that mutt!"

Out of the swirling smoke, my combusken's legs slammed against the dark-type's body like a car hitting a sack of potatoes. The mightyena traded a yelp of pain for keeping it's hold on kippie. The water-type stumbled back weakly, but stood upright for the sake of her pride and trainer. "Okay kippie! Use mud-slap on that mightyena!" He commanded with ferocity as he wished to pay back the pain in full. The mudskipper started to make these weird noises in its throat and spew out thick mud at the opposing Pokémon. The force of the attack threw the animal back and knocked it out of commission. Now that one was down, we all focused on the remaining foe. "Chirpie, use flame charge!"

"No, wait!"

It was too late to retract my command just seconds after Brendan voiced a frightened tone of opposition. My combusken suddenly bursted into a glowing flame and tackled the poison-type. What I didn't know and what my friend was so afraid of was that the gas the koffing had constantly emitted was very combustible. Inevitably, it exploded and sent everyone back. Hitting the floor with the backside of my head very much hurt, but I ignored the injury and sprang to my feet with clentched fists. The air started to clear a little and I caught a veiw of a smoky black koffing being glared down upon by a proud combusken; but that wasn't the end of it. Chirpie then started to glow and change shape. I could hardly believe my eyes as what used to be a small, adorable torchic, had eventually transitioned to a mighty blaziken.

He now surpassed my height by two feet with a curved red beak and robin blue eyes. On his head, Chirpie had a beige feathery down with the rest of his body plumage being a scarlet and off-yellow color. He was more slender in shape with the exception of his legs being more muscular and having alot of feathers covering them as if he was wearing a hakama*. His wrists were now hard and grey with three distinct claws.

In that moment of awe, I heard Brendan stir beside me and knelt down to help him. Unfortunately, this is also when the admin also got up with an angry expression on his face. Clearly he didn't like losing to children; not that I was one. Tabitha looked around and locked onto the unconscious Professor Cozmo with the meteorite stuck in his hand. The Magma thug quickly swiped it, grabbed the now unconious girl and retracted their Pokémon.

"Nice try little brats, but it is I the Great Admin Tabitha who wins this time! Be warned that if you try to-"

"OH TABI-TAAAAABI!"

The new voice that sang out the admin's name was sorta gravelly and had a bit of an accent. Brendan (who was somewhat conscious) and I turned behind us while Tabitha looked ahead to see who was the new person of interest.

With a mischievous grin and shifty eyed, a well built man with two other people following behind him came towards our group. He looked so much more than suspicious. How could I possibly say that? Well, no normal human being would willingly walk around in a wetsuit with a gold anchor chain around his neck and wore blue bandanna on the top of his head. If he didn't spell out as weird, then I don't know what else would. His henchmen were just as ridiculous, for they were dressed up like they were prepping for a pirate adventure dinner show.

The three crossed the bridge to meet up with Brendan and I. It was only normal to feel uncomfortable as he observed both of our appearances and let out a roaring laughter. "Wow! I can hardly believe that an almighty Magma Admin just got his ass handed to him by a lil' scamp like her! Team Magma must be reeeeally slippin' these days! Just look how cute she is!" He taunted Tabitha while taking a pair of fingers to roughly squeeze my cheek.

"Piss off!" I exploded with my fist instinctively shooting out to hit the man in the stomach. When the punch landed however, the impact actually hurt me instead; his built torso merely reverberated the attack back to me. I quickly withdrew my fist and shook it to relieve the pain. He laughed even harder at my violent attempt before taking a deep breath to calm down a little; and that term 'calm' was used loosely.

"Sorry lil' scamp! But unlike those flabby Magma losers, I'm all pure muscle!"

"I can see that,"

"Ouch! And here I thought Maxie was the only one who acted so cold! I dunno why you're being so hostile with strangers, you'll never get a boyfriend that way!"

"Fuck you! I don't want a boyfriend! But you're the one with the suspiciously stupid outfit and messing with my face!"

"Hey! I dress awesome! This is prime Team Aqua wetsuit wear! You can't come to close to being amy more awesome than that!"

"Team Aqua? That sounds just as dumb as Team Magma,"

The man comically frowned for a brief moment, but then busted out laughing once again; making me further question his sanity. The henchmen however, didn't share his humor. Brendan in the meanwhile was still sitting down and running his temples when Kippie slowly waddled into his view. She coughed up a bit of smoke and showed him her leg wound while giving him a puppy dog look. In response, he automatically. Stretched his arms out to grab ahold of the mudskipper and caress her in his arms. It was only a few seconds after that action did he notice that something was wrong.

"Okay, ya got me there, but you gotta admit that I , the awesome Archie look ten times cooler than Maxie!"

"Uh, May?"

"You look like a decked out thug/ scuba diver! There's nothing cool about you!"

"May!"

Upon hearing my friend call out for me, turned to look at him with kippie in his arms. I was a little annoyed that he interrupted my heated conversation. "What is it?!" I asked with irritation laced in my tone.

"We just let the bad guys get away,"

HUH?!

My sights quickly shifted to where Tabitha and the grunt were previously standing; only now an empty space had taken their place. Chirpie! Where was Chirpie?! I kept turning wildly about myself now, until I found the now tall firebird pecking away at a teddyursa-shaped cookie.

"...Well fu-"

 ***Continued in chapter 18***

*Hakama: Loose pleated trousers

*Futon: Traditional Japanese bedding consisting of padded mattresses and quilts


	18. Chapter 18

There was no time to waste as the seven of us ran back outside the cavern. Brendan carried Professor Cozmo while I ran out with Chirpie after scolding him for taking snacks from thugs. He tried to argue back the case, but it was futile. Archie and his two men came out with us and planned on immediately going after Team Magma like I was. Originally, Brendan wasn't a big fan of this idea since A: We were unfamiliar with shady-looking Team Aqua, and B: It was certain that there was going to be a full-fledged gang war that would surely erupt if they met with Team Magma. Despite the spelled out consequences, I was too stubborn to shirk at the idea of possibly meeting up with Maxie again. I was determined to beat him down and his band of thugs. My former travel companion however, would be trusted with the task of bringing the professor down the mountain to safety. That suited me just fine since I didn't want him to talk any logical sense into me that prevented them from being pounded into a pulp.

Brendan walked up to me with a still unconscious professor being supported on his shoulders and managed to put a hand on mind. He had a serious look on his features this time and the relieved knowledge that I wouldn't hit him in the face like our first meeting. "I want you to make sure you're careful out there...those guys are really dangerous. But if you can, hit Tabitha in the face for me,"

I was a little surprised that he would request to fit in (let alone use) violence for an act of revenge, but then again, I could see the anger in his eyes from seeing how much Kippie wailed in pain from her injury. If that was Chirpie who had gotten hurt, Tabitha would have acquired more than just a black eye. I nodded back with a partially serious look and turned to my firebird. "Okay Chirpie, we're gonna hafta go down this mountain asap, so let's hurry!" I declared while starting to break into a run.

Before I could get any farther however, I felt three sharp talons grab ahold of my shoulder and yank me back. Hey! What on earth was he thinking?! "What gives?! Scuba thug said that they're going to Mt. Chimney and they already have a head start! How come you're stopping me?!" I demanded with a pouty face my Pokémon remained straight-faced throughout the entire spiel. When I finally finished, the large firebird turned away from me and knelt down; it took me a minute to realize what the gesture meant. Was he offering me...a piggyback ride?! Hell yeah!

Almost instantly, I jumped on his back and secured my arms around his neck. My excitement reached maximum levels as I anticipated the epicness of what was to follow. Once I was secure, the fire/fighting-type let out a screeching cry and leaped over the edge. The Team Aqua leader and his men witnessed the exit got rather excited by it. Archie took out a pokeball from his belt. "Man, that looked pretty dam cool! Can't have a lil' scamp like her outdo me though! Go wailord!"

Meanwhile, my stomach was now constantly dropping up and down in my belly from the fast -paced movement, but I couldn't help but laugh from the rush I was getting from the hardcore piggyback ride. Wind rushed in my face and the view from this perspective was so amazing. Looking down, I could see the miniature version of the ground steadily magnify as we kept going further towards the bottom. The freedom to do this so boldly felt refreshing; I wished I could do something like this on a whim.

Unfortunately, my thoughts were pushed from my mind as I started to faintly hear the sound of rushing water. I managed to turn my head out of curiosity to see and my eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as a result. A large wave of rushing water came crashing down with Chirpie and I in its path. "AH! Chirpie! Move out of the way!" I screamed above the forceful winds that drowned out most of my volume. He did manage to hear, but it was a challenge to execute the command. Trying to move side-to-side at a fast pace on a mountain with questionably stable rocks wasn't exactly a walk in the park. Chirpie slowed down to try and move safely across.

Ultimately, it was a terrible mistake on my part as the water caught up to us quicker than expected and swept the both of us away. We were separated by the force of the current that tossed me every which way until I couldn't even comprehend what was up or down! On top of the swirling around underwater, it was getting hard to hold my breath. The burning in my lungs was becoming more prominent; which prompted me to frantically claw for life.

Just when it seemed grim, I felt thick vegetation rushing against me and finally stopped tumbling around. I shot up straight to the surface and gasped for fresh air. It took a moment of recovering from to close call to realize that I was back down the mountain again. The water started to recede and I was able to stand on the now very muddy ground. A quick examination of myself revealed more knocks and bruises, including a large cut on my knee. It hurt really bad, but not enough to handicap me.

While trying to figure out what other injuries I sustained, I heard a screeching cry from behind me. Though only still new to comprehend, the sound was too unique for it to belong to any of the while Pokémon in the area. Sure enough, my head turned to see Chirpie coming towards me; completely worn, irritated and drenched. What wasn't expected had been the small person he was carrying using the strength of only one arm, and a small blue bird sitting on top of his head. The person in question made my eyes go wide as I never thought that I would see him again.

"WALLY?!"

I ran swiftly to the three where Chirpie laid down the unconscious Wally down on the soaked grass. While scanning him from head-to-toe, I realized how calm his face looked; it was just as strangely adorable as it was when awake and constantly on frightful alert. Interesting as he was, the fact remained that Wally needed to be woken up. How did they do that? It was...kissing right? My face suddenly burned from the horrific thought. Dad did tell me about something one day called 'Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation'. Or a t least he started to before he paused in the middle of the lesson and quickly switched the subject in learning how to use my shoe as a blunt object. Well, there was also this one time I watched a movie where the hero had woken up his girl of interest by pressing on her chest and kissing her lips. Yeesh! Every time that thought came up, I could feel my face turn red! Ugh, I didn't want to do it, but I couldn't just leave him; especially when he had covered so much for me. My mind was tormentingly made up.

My face scrunched up with burden while kneeling down to get closer. I could feel my pride keeling over and my sense of morals being killed instantly, but I kept telling myself that it was for the greater good. Now upon being only inches away from his face, my body trembled of his closed lips. And then!

"WALLY, WAKE UP!"

The left hand attached to my arm came crashing down on his stomach in the form of my clenched fist. It impacted and made his body jump upright and start to cough out water. Okay, so I pulled a cop-out, but I did manage to wake him up. I really didn't want to kiss him! I've already unwillingly kissed two too many times in my life!

He continued to sputter and cough out water until his breathing returned to normal. "You okay Wally?!" I asked as relief filled me from head-to-toe.

"S-sempai...you're here? And...you saved me?!"

"Actually, Chirpie found you-"

"THANK YOU SEMPAI! I'm forever in your debt!"

Without warning, Wally attacked me with a hug; nearly squeezing out all the air in my lungs. For someone who was supposed to be incredibly weak, he sure was strong. "Get off me Wally! You're too close to me!" I demanded while squirming in his hold to break free. Normally it would be easy to punch a boy without a hitch, but his adorableness made it difficult for me to do. As if this wasn't terrible enough, a loud, bellowing laugh suddenly ripped out into the air; making us turning our heads to see a massive blue whale perched on top of the surface of the left side of the nearby lake, the secondary culprit. The primary one was standing on top of it. He was currently watching the scene and making all sorts of jeers like he was a ten-year-old. "OOH! Are you guys gonna kiss?! Right out in the open too! Better hurry up before somebody catches ya!"

Ugh, I am really starting to hate that man. Did Maxie actually think of this guy to be a rival? It was pretty stupid to think that he had any flunkies in the first place. I sharply stood back up; making Wally lose his grip on me. My face was fixed into an angry scowl.

The man withdrew his wailord and landed right in the water; though he didn't mind one bit with his only choice of wear being a wetsuit. Seeing as how he was the boss of Team Aqua, it only took Archie a matter of moments to reach the edge of the lake and meet up with us. He looked like an animal while surging through the water. It was too bad that a pokemon didn't mistake him as easy prey, grab him by the foot and drag him down to his watery doom.

"So lil' scamp, you done smoochin' your 'damsel in distress' already? Cause we gotta go kick some Magma ass at Mt. Chimney asap!"

"You and your stupid wailord almost drowned us! There's no way I'm traveling with a moron like you! Besides, you're just a shameless thug like Maxie!"

"And who's fault is it to try and look cooler than me while getting off the mountain? You're alive ain'tchya? And I'm nowhere near like that skinny nerd! I actually care what happens to Pokémon! Back in my day, we gave a shit about em' ya know? Nowadays, they're just more like entertainers or somethin'. One day, I'mma find a way to raise the sea level so every Pokémon in the world can be happier and make things go back to the way they were!"

Wow, that sounded a little deep there. He may have been a muscle head, but this was something he put a bit of thought into. I then started to wonder how this all came about: How Maxie and Archie started to feel this way, and what they did to become who they were. The issues with their ideals however, was how flawed they were. For example, Wally suddenly spoke up with curiosity.

"Um...if you raise the sea level for Pokémon, then what will happen to the ones on land?"

"That's easy! They'll learn how to swim eventually!"

"And the fire and rock-types?"

"Well, the only explanation to give, is to say: 'Shut the hell up kid, because I'm Archie!' "

 **...**

Inevitably, Archie joined Wally and I on our journey to Mt. Chimney while his two flunkies went ahead to deliver assess the situation and prepare for battle. For the three of us, the first and foremost priority was to rest at Fallarbor's local inn. Our party got our own rooms despite the Team Aqua leader egging Wally on to get me to share my sleeping quarters with him. The tormenting adult knew no bounds with his terrible mockery.

The next day, I got up early and forced my travel companion to get up so we could ditch Archie before he could wake. Unfortunately, when we got to the front desk, he was already there with a stupid grin on his bearded face.

"Nice try, but you two lovebirds can't escape the epicness that is Archie! Now let's go get some Magma pukes!"

UUUUGH! I would love to murder this guy right now! He was practically asking for it. The unfortunate part was that I didn't have the muscle power to accomplish that. So we resumed our journey and traveled back across the ash-filled route; making sure we weren't mistaken for wild Pokémon this time around. As we traveled across the landscape, curiosity got the better of me and I asked Wally what happened between him and Sycamore. He instantly averted my gaze and blurted out a quick 'nothing'. I almost would have believed it if not for the professor's sadistic nature and the nervous sounding response that was followed by the nervous dripping of sweat. It was obvious that Wally had gone through a lot of torment from what had transpired at Wanda's house, so the subject was dropped. To prevent that madman from talking to us though, I then asked my friend how he was able to get so far. Fortunately, that subject was approved for discussion.

After he left his cousin's house, Wally set off to Mauville and defeated Wattson to claim his badge. He had wisely chosen kirlia and roselia for that match. Afterwards, he stayed in the city that night and went to route 111 the next day. While going on that path, he met up with Gabby and Ty, and ended up in a battle with the duo. He managed to hold his own; describing the battle as 'nerve-wracking'. The next few days were spent training and getting to know his Pokémon better while being more comfortable with the wilderness. Eventually, he resumed his journey and captured more Pokémon in the Fiery Path. When all was said and done, he stayed at the rest house I went to not too long ago. And so, Wally left the next day and made his way to Fallarbor Town after enduring countless hours of falling ash (which we were currently in) and eventually met up with me again.

It was admittingly courageous of him to make it so far despite all the setbacks he had. Sure he was very clingy and constantly stared at me with those disgustingly adorable eyes, but he took being a trainer very seriously. One day, I hoped to battle him to test his sturdiness as a precious mentor to his Pokémon. Somehow, I had a feeling that I would be tested in the process too.

Just before dark, the three of us reached the rest house and spent the night there. The old lady who lived and maintained the place gladly welcomed and served us food. Apparently Wally and I were 'thin rails' and needed to eat a lot. If course, Archie couldn't miss a second of making us embarrassed (or rather me) and ruffled both of our heads while joining our company. "AHAHAHA! Better listen to grams'! You can't even dream about beating me with those little twigs you call arms!" He taunted as he held up one of mine as proof. I just glared at him, took back my limb and scarfed down my bowl of rice and fish; fumbling with my chopsticks from the frustration.

After dinner, the Team Aqua boss was the first to go into the bathroom, a mistake that was instantly regrettable. An hour and forty- five minutes...that's how long he took in there while Wally and I suffered. Even then, he still wasn't out yet. Finally, my spread thin patience had been fed up. I stormed over to the door and slammed a heavy fist against it repeatedly.

"You've been in there forever! Get out already!"

"Make me!"

He was gonna play that game huh?! That scuba thug has another thing coming! Gathering up all my fury, I summoned the strength needed to remove the obstacle in my way.

"Maple style! BURNING KICK OF RAAAAAGE!"

One forceful hit of my foot made the door give away and violently swing open. Inside was a half-dressed Archie (wearing only a towel around his waist and his bandanna) with a scrub brush while a sharpedo swam around the square tub. Thankfully, my rage blinded me to his indecency. "Get out NOW!" I screamed while shoving him and his Pokémon out. While being held, the water/dark-type shot me a glare, but did nothing to act upon the hate. Once I was the only occupant, I slammed the door...or at least what was left of it.

 **...**

The next day, we all set out again with Archie taunting my fury from the night before by calling me a 'ruffled lil' scamp' and constantly retold the events of the previous night in his own mocking way. After the fifty-fourth time, I felt like hitting my head repeatedly against a brick wall. Several hours would pass before he finally got bored of the mockery.

When we finally ended up at the entrance of the cable car station, I quickly went in with the growing hope of being able to ditch the man and move onto Lavaridge Town without being tormented any further by his presence. By far, Archie was the worst travel companion with Sycamore coming in a close second. Ngh, it was funny how I used to perceive Birch as the kind but annoying thorn at my side; now, I wished that I spoke up at the beginning to avoid all of the annoying drama now thrusted upon me and take him instead!

Anyway, we went inside the small station where a blond, uniformed woman kindly greeted us behind the counter with her customer-friendly smile. "Good afternoon! Would you like to take a trip to the top using the cable car?" She asked in a versed tone.

"Um, yes ma'am. For three please,"

"Oh? Is that another cosplayer?"

"Huh?"

"Your friend in blue. He's the forty-seventh person dressed in blue to come through here today. Yesterday, there were forty-nine people dressed in red that used the cable car,"

That wasn't good. My instincts told me that something was definitely going down and that we would get sucked into the second we went up there...much like what Brendan said as well. It was pretty much a given that this would happen, but what worried me most that we might already be too late with possibly apprehending Maxie. Tabitha might have left already too! Still, we accepted the ride and piled into the little car. I had a serious expression on my face in preparation for the possible fights we might be about to face. Wally's features twisted into their usual nervousness at the thought of getting involved with gangs while Archie looked like he was hungry for action. The several (horrendous) days he spent with us forced him to substitute his bloodlust by aiming his torture at the most reactive person of the group (me).

Right now, the cable car was making its ascent up the mountainous volcano with the support of thick wires. My party ad I had no choice but to listen to the calm elevator music whilst squished together. In attempting to keep myself mentally prepared, I focused on the rocky scenery we gradually passed by. Beside me, Wally tried to distract himself by twiddling his thumbs and messing with the buttons on his sweater. Archie however pulled out his phone, dialed a number and started to engage in a conversation with an unknown receiver. Of course I was too absorbed with looking outside the cable car to notice what he was saying; and so the ride went on for another hour. I made a note to bring a distraction with me the next time I decided to come up here. The company I kept was too shy and frust-

"Woah! What the hell's going on down there?!"

I felt close to dying from boredom when my eyes locked onto a scene that definitely wasn't part of the tourist attraction. Below us, were the two rival groups of Hoenn fighting against each other in a massive Pokémon brawl. Wally and Archie quickly looked up from what they were doing to gaze at the battle upon hearing my statement.

"Oh my gosh! How are we going to enter the station now?! We'll be attacked before we get out!"

"Easy! We jump!"

The sensible member of our party and I turned our heads to the clearly insane leader of Team Aqua. The thought of being so close to Team Magma made a dangerous grin spread across his face. Was he trying to kill us?! The only possible conclusion that I came to was that Archie was really Hades and was trying to choose the craziest of ways to kill us and forever torture us in the underworld below. It was a bit of a stretch, but there wasn't any other logical explanation for his strange behaviors.

He got up from his seat and forcibly opened the door to the cable car the smell of smoke and ashes hit us full force to quickly overwhelm our senses. Wally however, was the one who coughed and sputtered more violently than the rest of us due to the complications with his previous breathing issues. "Oh yeah. Totally forgot about the weak kid," he said rather causally...what an asshole. He dug into one of the compartments in his belt and pulled out a blue bandanna. Normally when a person gives another person an item to use, it was considered an act of kindness. For some reason however, I couldn't help but feel repelled by the gesture. Probably because he had this evil smile on his features while holding it out to the poor Wally. There was some hesitation on the younger trainer's part, by he eventually took it and tied it around his face to help filter out the air.

"Um...thank you,"

"Oh, not a problem at all kid...now out you go!" He replied shortly before grabbing him by the front of his sweater and tossing him out of the cable car.

Poor Wally had no chance or strength to fight back as he was thrown out to his doom. A horrified expression crossed my face when my brain finally processed what had his occurred. I shot up from my seat and ran to the opening to see the inevitable conclusion that Wally was...I didn't even want to think it!" The hot wind blew harshly against my face as I nervously poked my head out of the cable car.

"You're turn lil' scamp!"

I didn't have time to react as I felt Archie's rough boot kick my back to push me forward and out of the safety of the car.

"BY THE WAY! THAT'S FOR KICKING ME OUTTA THE BATHROOM YESTERDAY!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!"

 **...Many days ago...**

 _Wally wad nervous, more so from when he first met May. That was because her terrifying professor was sitting rather peacefully across the table from him. Unlike the first time they encountered each other, the man's ecstatic smile was more natural while his ocean blue eyes weren't trying to burn a hole in him. Probably the reason for such tameness was because they were still in Wally's uncle's house. Unfortunately for the little boy, Wanda (who had previously been the only other occupant) left minutes ago to run errands. It was several long minutes of the professor observing the boy in a seemingly harmless manner._

 _"My, my...so quiet you are! I thought you would be clamoring away, like a chatot! Quite unusual of a silence who was wanting to tell me where my lost little birdie has flown off to,"_

 _"...I um..."_

 _"Yes?"_

 _"...I...I lied!"_

 _"Really?!" He said while feigning surprise in an attempt to dump guilt on his conscious. "What would make such a smart boy like yourself tell such a terrible, ugly lie?"_

 _Wally gulped hard as he gathered up his bravery to say it. "I REALLY like May-sempai! I want to be...her knight!"_

 _After his confession, an uncomfortable silence took ahold of the room and the young trainer's eyes dared to look upon Sycamore's face for some sort of reaction. Wally was certainly afraid of what was to follow, but he couldn't bring himself to tear his gaze from him._

 _It was only after two minutes of the boy's words sinking in when a chuckle came past the professor's lips; then it evolved into what was speculated to be a genuine laugh. Sweat immediately started forming on Wally's face while trying to figure out what sort of response would ensue. Eventually, the laughter died down and the professor calmly stood up to purposely tower over the unfortunate soul._

 _"What a very silly, misguided child you are! Going so far in your superficial infatuations to say such a thing!" He replied in a mocking voice. Very suddenly, the atmosphere took a severe 180 degree turn as the homely, quaint feeling turned heavy and uneasy. Sycamore smiled wider, but that was because it was inspired by the need to tear down the otherwise feeble obstacle before him._

 _"Say what you will little boy...but she has no need for such a burdensome weight. At any rate, whether Miss May realizes or not, she already has her prince charming!"_

 ***To be continued in chapter 19***


	19. Chapter 19

Right now I was feeling pretty stupid. If anyone were to ask me why, I would say it was because I had put my trust into a thug leader who took charge of other thugs. Especially one that booted me out of a moving cable car that was very high up in the air. Every second of my young life flashed before my eyes as I free fell to certain death. This was it! If I knew that this would happen, I would have eaten more croquettes! It was only moments now before I splattered all ove-"OOF!"

My body landed, but instead of feeling hard rock, there was a thick, blubbery texture against my skin. I was still rattled by the fall but when my senses eventually calmed down, I that this thing I landed on was none other than another wailord. So Archie wasn't out to kill us? He still seemed shady, but I guess he wouldn't resort to homicide so quickly.

I looked around and saw Wally not too far from me. He was wide-eyed and trembling with absolute shock; yeah, that seemed about right. Suddenly, another person dropped down on the wailord, but landed (stumbled while doing so) on his feet. Of course, there wasn't much speculation to guess who it was considering that they also occupied the car with Wally and I.

"Dam that was fun! We should do it again for kicks!"

"You're such a dumbass! How come you didn't tell us what you were doing?! We could have DIED!"

"I did tell you didn't I? And you're still breathin', so quit your bitchin' and put this on,"

Archie dug into the compartment of his belt again and pulled out another blue bandanna. "There's gonna be alot of shit going down and wearin' my team colors will make sure my boys don't attack ya by mistake," he said with a wild grin. I looked at the thing, then turned my gaze back on him. I was too annoyed by him to accept any gesture. "No thanks! And if they try to get in my way, they'll have their asses handed to them!"

Though I said those offensive words with my face fixed into a scowl, Archie's expression didn't budge; if anything, he looked more amused. The irritable moment was ruined when we heard the sound of running boots coming towards us. We both turned our heads to see a small group of Team Magma grunts coming towards us. The few Team Aqua grunts who were on the ground had quickly stepped forward to meet against them. It only took seconds before all of their Pokémon were already out and having at each other. Okay, time to get into action! I grabbed my own pokeball from my belt and threw it. "Come out dustox!"

The purple bug-type came out with a cry and fluttered overhead. "Alright girl, time to light this candle!"

 **...**

Mt Chimney lived up to its name with its thick, billowing smoke coming from the volcano's molten center. Ash and embers swirled around in the hot air that ventilated the area; making it intolerable for the faint of...I mean reeeeeally faint of heart. My feet pattered against the brownish red rock that mainly colored the desolate environment. The sky above was a deep and smoky blue. As powerful as the scenery was, I had no time to pay attention to it because Wally, Archie and I were plowing our way through Team Magma members. That stupid lady at the counter miscounted! There were way more people here than what she said! Despite the mistake, it wasn't too much of a hardship.

"Maple/Pokémon team-up style! Dustox cover-up PUUUUUNCH!"

The giant moth that was under my command immediately sped forward and latched itself to an unsuspecting grunt's face; making him panic and try to tear it off his features. "AGH! Not again-OOF!" Before he could finish, my fist buried itself into the man's torso and sent him to the ground with a thud. Oh yeah, we were on fire! "Dustox! Stop eating his shirt and regroup!" I commanded while checking my surroundings for any more hostiles. My Pokémon was starting to chew on his top when it heard my voice and flew back to me.

"Um, sempai?! I don't know what we're supposed to be doing!" Wally said with alarm while his swablu pecked furiously at an enemy numel. It looked very eager to take out the foe and even tried to carry it off. With its current size, the flying-type was unable to do so. Unlike me or Archie, the rookie trainer didn't engage in any physical violence himself. "Isn't it obvious besides the several counts of assault, battery and desecration of a regional landmark against us?!"

"WHAT?!"

"Uh, do I hafta spell it out for ya kid?! With this many Magma pukes around, that smart-ass Maxie is bound to be around here somewhere! Now less talky and more violence!" He said while kicking a grunt in the face with his boot as his poochyena howled with victory. To this day, Wally still had a guilty conscious of all the 'crimes' he committed on Mt. Chimney.

We continued to fight onwards as our party advanced around the volcano when three Magma grunts jumped in our way. Wally and I were able to move out of the way, but the Aqua leader wasn't so lucky. He was smack dab in the middle of them. Without any ceremony, the grunts summoned three battle-ready poochyena. "Oh, so its a dog fight ya want, eh?! I'll show you just how much of a dog I am!"

I didn't bother to look back as I raced on with my hand fastened around my friend's as I dragged him forward. He was barely able to keep up with my pace, but didn't stop running to the best of his ability despite his heavy breathing. No offense to Archie, but I his didn't like him much; after I beat Maxie, I'll rub the stolen victory into that scuba thug's face!

Speaking of Maxie, after twenty more minutes of battling and dodging our enemy, we were now allowed to behold the sight of a long, large plexiglass platform. I squinted my eyes to see a gray, bulky machine with a lone figure having his front facing the boiling lake of lava. There was no doubt that the person who was bold enough to have his back turned on his advancing foes would be Maxie. This was gonna be the last time he pulled a cocky stunt like that! "Come on Wally! Time to give that nerd a swirly of a lifetime!"

With an urgent yank, I pulled him, but instead of coming closer, we were both repelled and pulled upwards by the front of our shirts. What both of our visions now saw in their line of sight was the Magma admin Tabitha. Now I understood why Maxie was so cocky as he was; I should have seen this coming. "Well, well...the stressful child tries to destroy what Team Magma works so hard to achieve! A mere child who only tries to inhibit what the true supporters of humanity like you can't be called a servant of the people! In fact, you're really,really,really,really,really,really,really..." Ugh, this guy! Out of all the people to get caught by, it had to be him! It was supposed to be the other way around!...hm...how long was he gonna talk like this? He sounded so corny. "...really,really,really,really,really annoying!" He declared before abruptly dropping Wally so he could use that hand to get a better grip on my shirt.

In that second, the intense heat of the volcanic atmosphere suddenly felt cool. That was because in comparison, I had come face-to-face with the Magma admin's ferocious red eyes. All that hatred and intimidation weighed on me like a cement blocks.

While this heavy concentration of anger was new to me; there were two instances where I endured small samples of it: My dad and Sycamore. Of course both times were indirect, but I picked up on the strong signals of negative feelings when within the vicinity.

"Little girl or not, you've made it clear of how much of a threat you are. This time, I'm going to CRUSH YOU! AHAHAH- **AGH**! **MY EYE**!"

In the middle of Tabitha's evil laugh, I appropriately defended myself from his promised threat by cocking my fist back and slammed it into his right eye. The shocked admin let let go of me to nurse the slowly bruising orbital. I dropped to my feet and quickly grabbed Wally's arm to make our escape. When we thought we were in the clear, the man's arm suddenly lashed out and latched onto my friend's limb to stop us.

"You little shit! You're not getting away from me so easily!"

My dustox and Wally's swablu tried hard to irritate the man by chewing on his shirt and pecking at his head, but Tabitha's rage made him ignore the small distractions. I tried so hard to pull, but my feet was slowly sliding back towards the enemy.

"Sempai, its no use! Leave me before you get caught!"

"But that guy's...there's no way I'm letting you stay with him by yourself!"

Despite the frightening situation, Wally's face looked surprisingly calm. "Don't worry sempai, it's just like you said: I've got my friends with me to help fight the battles I can't win alone," he said with most of his tone being shaky, but clear enough to get his point across. I looked at him in a bewildered expression, but found myself letting go and turning on my heels to go for the main boss. Dustox noticed my leave and left Tabitha alone to catch up with me. It was hard to his abandon him like that, but he was counting on me to press forward.

 **...**

No sooner had I left the formerly ultra-sickly boy to battle the dangerous admin, my feet found themselves clunking against the thick Plexiglas of the platform. Admittingly, it was a very hair raising experience to look down and see lava sloshing about. My pace slowed due to the noticeable change of scenery, but I didn't stop. After all, Maxie was only within long spitting distance now. Dustox stood on alert on top of my head. Her antennas moving about to sense the situation.

"Ah good, the entertainment's here. I was beginning to think that you wouldn't show up,"

I promptly stopped the second he identified my presence and clenched both of my fists at my side. There was a feeling I had that he wasn't going to just talk this time. Maxie turned around with a neutral look on his face and adjusted his glasses as he cleared his throat. "Most would say that our meeting is merely coincidence or in Tabitha's case, simply 'leaked information' from what that imbecile, Archie told you. I however, believe it is fate; a destiny that of two members from a supreme race of life meeting to decide its fate. That being said, you seem to have a very misguided view of what I'm striving to do,"

"Actually, I don't have a dam clue what you're doing! All I know is that your flunkie stole something that didn't belong to him and beat up my friend! Honestly, I could care less what you and scuba thug do, but you can be sure that I'll Maple your asses the second you two losers involve someone else!"

"...interesting, now would you like to know what I'm doing here?"

"I don't-"

"Good. This machine here is based off my original designs that I finally perfected after years..." Maxie started to reply after he ignored my lack of care and traditionally went on to monologue his plans. Ugh, should I hit him or use my Pokémon to interrupt? " ...by using the geothermal power of this volcano, it can power the machine and shape the meteorite from Meteor Falls into a keystone or a megastone ,"

"I'm still not caring-wait, what did you say?"

"Oh? Interested are we? Well, I could tell you...but I think I would be spoiling you too much. Why don't we have a battle instead? It was a but of a disappointment that I wasn't able to test you with our previous encounter, but there is more than enough time now to spare,"

WHAT?! WHAT?! It's just like that prick to get to something worth hearing and switch the subject to tease my interest. The moment I heard 'megastone', I immediately thought of what Professor Sycamore said about his research. He was talking about the theories of mega evolutions and such. One of the ways to achieve it, was through using a megastone.

"You bastard! You better talk more about that! I'm not done listening!"

"I believe I talked quite enough, child. If you manage to beat me, maybe I will indulge you some more, but for now, golbat will start us off,"

I was a little confused by what he meant by that until my vision was suddenly filled with a cyan blue and purple creature that manifested in front of my view. Needless to say, I practically jumped out of my skin from the sudden fright and was startled back, but only by a few steps. The sky would fall before I let him best me! "Go dustox! Use your big buzz!"

The bug-type rapidly heated her wings and took off from my head to meet her foe in battle. Once she was close, dustox's antennas vibrated at a high frequency that echoed painfully in the bat's ears. The foe's Pokémon thrashed around in almost near insanity, but then regained it's composure and charged towards dustox to sink its fangs in her torso. There was no mercy to be given as it started to suck the life out of her. She tried her best to struggle out of the grip, but eventually succumbed to fainting. "Come back dustox!" I declared while taking out her pokeball and withdrawing her.

I think took the risk of stealing a glance at Maxie. A fatal mistake as I saw his lips upturned in a small smirk. It was worse than any insult he could attack me with. Okay, now what was effective against poison-types? Poochyena was out and skitty would have to do alot of maneuvering to compensate for her lack of aerial abilities...wait a minute! DUH! I could use metang!

Without another thought on the decision, I pulled out my second-in-command and unleashed it. "Come on metang! I know you can do it!"

Unfortunately, I forgot that metang entered its disobedient level of growth and came out sleeping. Oi! I could feel my dignity as a trainer slowly start to break apart! The golbat who wanted his next opponent, immediately swooped down with bared fangs and attacked the sentient metal. The result to that however, was a tooth being chipped from trying to fasten them on its metallic hide. The golbat screeched horribly from the new source of pain and wildly flapped about. From the cause of the commotion, the steel/esper-type raised its arm and unintentionally smacked the Pokémon into the ground; though the original purpose of the gesture was to shoo the noisy thing away. HAH! Take that!

I looked boldly back at the nerdy scientist with a taunting smirk; fully expecting him to fume with anger. What I got in return was nothing. Not even so much as a glance! Maxie simply took out his pokeball and withdrew golbat before selecting another Pokémon. Tch! Even when I gained the upper hand, it felt like my anger burned more than it should with this guy!

This time, Maxie sent out a ferocious mightyena with its eyes ablaze with bloodlust. "Mightyena, use assurance," the Team Magma leader commanded while holding a stern gaze at the target. Oh shit, that wasn't good. The large dog ram ahead to metang and slammed his paws into the unsuspecting opponent. Now that it received a harmful, super-effective dark-type attack, metang woke up without a hitch. "Metang, use confusion!" I shouted to try and defeat the beast as quickly as possible.

Once again however, it refused to listen and instead tried to ram into its target with its head. Metang may have been strong, but he was very slow. The mightyena dodged the attack with little effort and seized my Pokémon's arm in it's jaws. Before it could react, the dark-type repeatedly slapped its paw against metang's metal surface. This was getting too hard to watch! Right now, there was nothing more I could want than to jump into the fray and shield it from any more harm. Unfortunately, all I could do was watch it take hit after hit with painful, distorted sounds that accompanied it.

By the time it was over, my metang had been reduced to a heavy, pitiful mess that looked like it was about to cry. I was pretty much in the same boat with a hard lump in my throat and eyes full of salty tears. To make matters worse, I began to hiccup. This was his like that grunt all over again!

"Oh dear, I've seemed to have made the little girl cry,"

Arceus! Was he really gonna do this too?!

"It's not so easy is it? Playing the romanticized heroine I mean? I can only wonder how your recklessness and delusions brought you this far. This battle is proving to be how flimsy your ideals are; your own Pokémon won't even listen to you. Overall, your presence here is a mere waste of my time that isn't even entertaining...go home and cry to daddy child, because you won't get any sympathy from me,"

With that, he ran a hand through his fiery red hair and turned around to resume his original distraction that was deemed more worthy of his attention. His mightyena was left to shoo me away as if I already lost! How mortifying this felt! I was never bullied as a kid (because I unknowingly took the role of the bully) so the suffering of defeat with added insults felt all the more humiliating! All I wanted to do now...was just leave.

I started to walk forward with timid steps and took out metang's pokeball out when my eyes stole a glance at the large, menacing dog. Suddenly, I remembered my last conversation with Brendan. Right now, he was probably with Professor Cozmo expecting a triumphant victory on his behalf. Then the thought of Archie crossed my mind. He was probably still battling his way through all those grunts. Even now, Wally was still engaged in battle with the second strongest person in Team Magma! If I gave up now, then it would have all been for nothing.

Maxie was lost in his thoughts as he watched the boiling mass of lava move about below him. He was beginning to wonder when his loyal dog would return to his side when he heard a rough metallic thud. The Magma leader quickly turned around to see a fainted mightyena laying against the machine and me with a renewed determined look on my face while Chirpie stood by me.

"Pick up your mutt so we can settle this! Team Maple ain't through yet!"

*continued in chapter 20*


	20. Chapter 20

What do I believe in? A question I asked myself occasionally when lying awake in bed at night, happening to pass by some breath-taking scenery or lent my ears to an old person who rambled on about their golden years. When I pondered on those kinds of thoughts, they would always point to what my parents taught me and the small world I lived in. They were good values that earned respect, but ultimately wasn't something born through my small period of individual experience. Sure my opinion for boys changed and I now started to get a grasp on Pokémon in a personal perspective, but overall, I was just a spring chicken.

What I do know is that I felt that Maxie was wrong and it was up to me to stop him. Granted, he was a know-it-all and thought little of me, but that was gonna change...

"Very persistent I see. I suppose we can decide who is the more superior trainer with one Pokémon,"

Maxie withdrew his fainted his mightyena and walked closer towards Chirpie and I. He was still a good distance away, but had closeness indicated a little more respect. The Magma leader then took out a third pokeball and adjusted his glasses. At that moment, my eyes caught something familiar in the side of his frames. It had been the same bluish-green stone Brendan and I wore on our bracelets at the Contest Spectaculars. What was he doing with that thing?! Does he go to contests too?! No, that couldn't be it; there was no way on this planet that he'd be interested in something like that.

"I hope you're prepared this time, child. Because if you aren't, it will be the end for you!"

With that, he threw the device in the middle of the platform to reveal a large, orange camel creature. Its large body was covered in thick fur and looked to have two mini volcanoes growing from its back. I admittingly had been about what kind of team they were. Team rocket used poison-types and Team Aqua used water-types. Maybe it was just me, but all that red for this team's colors had been seriously misleading about what types they used. Either way, I was screwed because Maxie's camerupt was a fire/ground-type.

Despite the disadvantage, Chirpie bravely stepped forward and went into his fighting stance. The situation was intense, but I could feel myself grin from the amount of trust my fire-fighter put in me. Well he was my first Pokémon after all. My gaze looked towards the two battle ready animals before setting my sights on my opponents. A short smile creeper up on his lips and held up a teddy-ursa-shaped. My firebird took his gaze off camerupt for just that moment to lock onto the treat.

"Chirpie wa-"

"Camerupt, use lava plume!"

The large creature's two small volcanoes suddenly erupted and spewed out molten lava. Chirpie quickly jumped out of the way to avoid most of the stream, but got hit by a small splash on the left arm. As expected, it burned him badly to the point where he nearly stumbled off balance. "Come on, Chirpie! Show em' who's boss and use sky uppercut!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

My tall Pokémon was moved by my voice and launched itself at the large beast. Fortunately for us, the thing was too big and slow to avoid the fighting-type attack and took it in the chin. The camel-like creature let out a bellowing cry in pain while holding back tears.

But what wasn't expected was the beast to shoot his head forward and snatch Chirpie by the leg with its teeth. The fire/ fighting-type fell back to hit his head roughly again the plexiglas; nearly knocking him out. "Camerupt, stomp on him!" Maxie quickly commanded as he realized the new advantage they gained. Without any hesitation, it raised both of its front legs and slammed both of its feet down.

"AH! CHIRPIE!"

Fright nearly took over as I tried not to picture the worst. The whole platform shook as it was hit, but strangely, it wasn't as powerful as I thought it would be. I stumbled a little from trying to regain my balance and moved my hand from my face, I could see why. Maxie's neutral expression remained as it was; though the situation grew more intense.

The left foot of camerupt missed Chirpie's free leg by inches and his right was being held at bay by my firebird's arms. Alright! Time to strike back! "Chirpie! Knee him in the chest!"

In that second, the blazekin thrusted up his free knee and hit home against the foe's ribcage. The unfortunate target groaned painfully and fell on its side from the severity of the impact. It looked so bad that it almost made me feel terrible. Yeesh, I better finish it off before I felt like the bad guy.

"Chirpie, let's end this with a double kick!" I exclaimed while having every nerve on end. Now free, he made a jump in the air and landed two fierce kicks on the side of the camerupt's face; putting more power into incapacitating it than necessary. Boo-Yah! I-I mean, we did it! Chirpie let out a screech of victory and crossed his arm before being put back in his pokeball. Now time to kick the ever-living hell outta-

"Hmhmhmh...ahahah... **AHAHAHAHAHA**!"

That was the first human sound to fill the air after our battle. At the very least, it sounded creepy. At the most, it sounded downright scary to a 'T'. I dared to look ahead and saw a very befuddled looking Maxie. His once neat hair suddenly came out of place in a few areas. The large spectacles on his face half fell on one side. However, the most out of place thing he featured was a very disturbing maniacal laughter. I felt very uncomfortable for several minutes as he continued this out of character behavior.

When he finally finished, Maxie pulled back his hair and fixed his glasses, but a very wicked smile was stuck on the Magma leader's features. Okay, this is new.

"You're certainly full of surprises! But how about we make things more interesting with the power of mega evoluti-" Brrrrg! Brrrrg!

Maxie had stopped talking upon hearing the ringing noises. Immediately, he dug into his pocket to pull out a red cellphone. With his attention now on the device, Maxie gave his back to me and answered in his normal tone of voice.

"Hello?...oh, Courtney...yes I'm fine,"

Was he...really ignoring me for a phone call?! What the hell?! This was supposed to be a serious situation! My face was now fixed into a scowl while he talked.

"HEY! Get off your phone! I'm not done with you!"

"Could you hold for a moment, Courtney? Thank you,"

Maxie put a hand over the receiving end and turned back towards me. "Excuse me, but it would be much appreciated if you waited until I finished," he said bluntly and gave me his backside once more to resume his conversation. I could feel something snap in my brain. My anger started boiling to its peak, until finally..." **AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH**!"

I couldn't control my rage any longer and charged in full force to punch him in the face. My hard-headed perspective unfortunately blinded me to the danger was still there; namely the volcano we were still on. The fist that was clenched aimed for my opponent, but missed as he casually stepped aside to let me rush past him...and go right over the edge of the platform. Just as I realized what my stupidity made me do, shock prevented me from any measures in saving my own life. Of all the dumb things to have done, this one certainly takes the cake! What a cruel wor-

My body jerked to a stop with my toes being restrained from the shirt being pulled back. The heart in my chest pounded ferociously from the near death experience while my body was completely coated with anxious sweat. I could barely breathe at all and every inch of me trembled to the core.

"Hm, I see...good work. I have a few things to do before we return, but I would be grateful if you started making preparations. Good-bye,"

Maxie ended his call and put the cellphone back into his pocket while his other hand kept a grip on my shirt. Though, he felt the trembling and noticed my distress, he made no effort to pull me back right away (what a prick!). Instead, he reached over to the bulky machine and opened the glass top to retrieve the meteorite. There were no attempts of struggling on my part because I preferably didn't want to plunge into molten lava.

"I find myself at a bit of a loss..." Is what I heard him say with a rough yank that finally pulled me back from the primary danger and forced me to land in the arm of the second one. "...that I encounter an exceptional trainer who shares a common view with me, but has the great irony of possessing the same violent tendencies as my not-so-intelligent adversary. Honestly, it would have been a more logical choice to let you fall," he finished with a blunt, straightforward voice. Yeah, this guy was really creeping me out. Despite his cruel confession, it was easy to see that the man wasn't completely soulless. However, my opinion of him changed from creepy nerd thug to a VERY creepy nerd thug. That was because I felt my pack moving around and looked down to see him casually opening it to put the space rock in.

"Hey pal! Hands off!"

Maxie had just finished putting the object of interest in the bag when my hand roughly slapped against his. A frown crossed the scientist's face as he snatched up the offending limb by the wrist. "You're a very hard child to appease. Even when I spare your life and give you back the item you sought, kindness is wasted in the face of your lack of gratefulness,"

"Grateful?! I'm supposed to be grateful to someone like you?! Think again smartass! I'll hit you in the face the next time you do that!"

"That's a very bold declaration considering what kind of position you're currently in. I can still toss you over the side,"

"Bring it on, Magma dork! I'm ready for you anytime!"

"Pardon the interruption, but I would prefer it good sir, if you released my terribly naive student instead so we can go on our way,"

Maxie and I stopped arguing when we heard a new voice enter the heated conversation. Well, it was new to the Magma leader at least. The hairs on the back of my neck automatically pricked up and my face turned myself a bright red in a mixture of anxiety and embarrassment as I instantly recognized it. Good arceus! How was it even possible?! When Maxie looked up, he saw a calmly poised Professor Sycamore with his hair lightly whipping through the hot wind and his blue eyes shining with amusement. He was wearing his ironed blue silk shirt with the top button still missing, but the other two now unbuttoned. He held a pokeball closed to his lips in a somewhat gallant pose like he was a shojo romantic or something. Hardly a threat to the Hoenn native, but more silly is what he would describe it. I couldn't see a thing from how I was positioned, but would be unfortunate to get a look soon enough.

"Your student?"

"Oh yes! Very much so!"

"I've never seen this guy in my life!"

"Tsk, tsk! For shame miss Maple! Lying to this poor man on top of deceiving and abandoning me to throw yourself into harm's way! That is certainly not what I taught you!"

I heard light footsteps sneak closer to us as they gently pattered against the plexiglas. Maxie briefly looked back on my distressed expression and quietly lost himself in thought for a moment. Meanwhile, I felt awkward thinking about who was the safer person at the moment: An egotistical pointdexter who's the leader of a criminal organization; or the overconfident, strangely alluring Pokémon professor who made it a personal dedication to obsess/stalk me in every single waking moment he had? Honestly, the lava was starting to look pretty more appealing to me. Getting caught between these two crazies was enough to make me go insane.

"So if I just hand you over my nuisance, all of my problems will go away?"

Hey!

"Why, precisely! If you refuse to release the delicate lady however, I will have no choice but to engage in a match with you! And be warned sir: I am quite the tough opponent!" He replied as he held the pokeball out with a smug grin as if he were intimidating...which he wasn't.

Hold the phone! The professor had a Pokémon?! It's pretty much a given that every Pokémon professor has three starters for their students, but I've never seen his before! That would explain how he followed me everywhere so swiftly with ease.

"Well, seeing as how I have no more Pokémon to dispense at will and now suddenly having another task to deal with, I suppose that there isn't any other option but to accept your conditions,"

WHAT?! He was giving up already?! Wait! NO!

Before I could fully realize the next thing, Maxie flung me towards Sycamore. I stumbled with my footing, but inevitably landed into his chest. Just like a Venus flytrap, his free arm quickly latched ahold of me by the waist the second I made contact. While it was absurd of me to believe that Maxie cared about my well-being, he could at least extend the courtesy of just letting go of me so I can plot an escape! I looked back at Maxie, and the fact that his lips managed a small grin got me furious: He did it just to torment me! That dick!

Forgetting that I was still In Sycamore's hold, the instinctive action to inflict violence kicked in and I tried to move forward to maim the nerd. The professor however, pulled me back and picked me like I was a flustered kitten and threw my body over his shoulder.

"Thank you kindly good sir! Miss Maple shall be on our way! But uh, please hold this for me if you will!" He said as he tossed the pokeball towards Maxie. The unconscious reaction to catch it was inevitable; though Maxie got ahold of it with one hand while displaying no expression of surprise. "Good day to you!"

With that, Professor Sycamore turned on his heels and left while I struggled against his grip like some wild beast. He was making an accurate bee-line for the path that led down the mountain.

 **...**

 _No sooner had the two left, Maxie found himself a little flustered. While he never had the intentions of starting another battle with a new objective now clear, it was still just a tad bothersome to realize that what he was now holding was an empty pokeball. Of course the trickery had been clarified upon opening it up and revealing nothing but empty space. Despite the petty move, it was useless to dwell on it. He had just discovered the location of a means to awaken the slumbering earth titan._

 **...**

The Jagged Pass sounds just how it looks: Jagged. Its path was certainly rough and unstable. The pine trees and grass was blanketed in ash that was thicker than in route 113. Surprisingly enough, it had sort of a tranquil feeling to it. Of course, I was feeling anything but that right now. After at least forty-five minutes of beating my fists against Sycamore's back, yelling, swearing and attempted flailing, all of my energy ran out. Now, only a drained, bitter expression was stapled on my face. My arms hung loose down his backside in defeat.

"Finally done with your temper tantrum dear?"

"..."

"Why don't we stop for a moment?"

Suddenly, I was put down and forced to sit with the professor on a nearby, large rock. On cue, I turned my face away so I wouldn't look at him. He only laughed in response like it was some cute quirk I make. "May dear, don't you think that you're being a bit unreasonable? You act as though I have wronged you! I was even expecting a lovely kiss from those darling lips of yours after rescuing you from that evil madman!"

Sycamore gave out a light sigh and very boldly rested his head on my shoulder. My face blushed upon feeling its weight and smelling his cologne. The curiosity to see his adorable face started to eat away at me, but I kept telling myself that it would only encourage him to bother me further if I gave in.

"*Sigh* it is quite unfair, you know? Trying so hard to please and take care of you only to be ignored and constantly left behind! Tell me darling, do you hate me?"

Well, hate certainly wasn't the word that popped into my head. He was very annoying and scary at times, but it definitely wasn't the first word of description for him. "No," I replied in a blunt tone. "Really? Then why do you give me such a hard time?" He inquired with sudden interest. The professor eagerly picked up his head. Of course, I was still turned away, so it came as a bit of a surprise when my skin registered his slender fingers around my chin before being yanked over to his direction. The second we saw each other, I squeezed my eyes shut and held up my hands in defense, for I knew what was coming next.

"Why do you feel the need to resist my authority?"

Just as anticipated, his other arm encircled my lower half and pulled me towards his heated chest. It felt like my touch was growing numb from remembering his warmth.

"Why do you deny me with such passion?"

The worst part had been my lips that registered his hot breath against them. This was just as embarrassing as all the other times like...oh no!

My forehead collided with his when I realized something important; Wally was left behind! First shock, then dull pain from my skull and then shock again while trying to get up. Sycamore however kept me in place despite his own head aching.

"Darling, what on earth has gotten-"

"Professor, I left Wally on top of the mountain! We hafta go back!" I exclaimed while struggling to pull away. However, just mentioning my friend's name seemed to have offended him, for an annoyed expression briefly crossed his face and held onto me even tighter. I know he didn't care much for him, but it was every responsible authoritive figure's to look out for the well-being of other helpless people.

"Is that all dear? You make it sound like it is something serious!"

Scratch that, I clearly should have known better.

It took a moment for those words to be processed by my brain; and when the message was deciphered, my temper flared. I forcibly pushed myself away and shot up.

"Not serious?! It is serious, idiot! He could be in trouble!"

Sycamore's smile suddenly dropped to a neutral line as I not only defied him, but threw an insult on top of caring little for him. Still, he did his best to remain unaffected while standing up in turn. "Miss Maple, I do believe that wa-"SLAP!

In my fury, I got so wrapped up in anger, that my brain was tricked into believing anything that came out of his mouth was automatically offensive. Then I realized that my hand struck the side of his face.

Oh shit.

I just committed a serious crime! While it was fair game (said my father) to hit no good scumbags or boys, striking a respected adult wad a serious no-no. Every fiber of my being froze while my hand radiated pain. The professor somehow remained where he was with his head turned from my assault. A bright red mark burned prominently on his pale skin. Terrible silence was all that filled the air as my eyes were wide with terror. I was very much-oh shit!

Sycamore returned his face back into its original position to lock back onto me with an unamused pair of blue eyes. "I-I didn't mean to! It was an accident!" My voice managed to blurt out in defense in an attempt to avoid punishment. Yeah, he'll definitely buy that when hell freezes over.

The professor stretched out his right hand for my face. Fear of getting hit back paralyzed any logic of moving away, so I prepared for the worst.

His soft palm reached my skin, by simply framed the side of it. He then bent himself down to where we could meet at eye level. Good arceus! Just put me out of my misery already! Enough with your tortuously slow movements.

My hand that had been the culprit of the crime had been taken up B his other had while not daring to take his sight off of me. Oh hell, he was gonna break my fingers! I sweated with nervousness as my thoughts tormented me about the possible scenarios of punishment. The skin of my hand felt clammy as his thumb gently brushed over the top of my palm.

"...oh my. You certainly have been quite brave today haven't you? Barreling away through your opponents challenging people with that sharp tongue and brute strength," he started off saying in a surprisingly calm voice. I was still in the state of anxiety and was confused by his tame voice. Meanwhile, the professor continued on.

"However, a tactic as reckless as that reaps a few undesirable consequences. Such as nearly killing yourself when you practically threw yourself out of that tree house,"

The hand that framed my face moved up to my forehead to brush his fingers against the spot where the bump had formerly existed. What the hell was he implying?! Was he gonna push me out of a tree house?! I don't understand what he's talking about! My body started to tremble from the fear of his possibly unpredictable behavior.

Sycamore then slid that hand down to my arm to the side of my forearm where the scar I sustained from route 113 was. "Do not think that I have not noticed all those wound you collected while you were away from my presence," he said sternly as he clutched that arm with a firm grip and pulled me closer to him. Any attempts to stop the professor proved useless as I was still stiff from fright when our bodies were deemed close enough for him, the hand that held mine dropped the extremity and held the side of my waist.

As if things weren't confusing enough, Sycamore moved his face to mine and planted a short kiss on my lips. The fear that was there had now been replaced with that weird, compromising emotion that I desperately wished hadn't been so influential on me. He gave me another one that made my lids grow heavy and I fought internally to stay focused. Just when it looked like he was about to imprint another one, the professor stopped and hovered the intoxicating pair over mine to continue his torture.

"I simply find it quite bothersome that you risk so much of yourself to that ungrateful travel companion you have and get nothing in return. Nothing but scars at least,"

He pressed his lips against mine once more; making my own pair burn with desire. The trance was complete as my eyes were sleepily closed and was found leaning closer towards him. It had been some time since I felt like this. So drawn...was it okay to be feeling this way?

"Stay with me darling. Do not put yourself through any more hardship,"

"But-"

"I will hear no more of it! Your trainer friend is plenty capable of taking care of himself. Now, be a good girl and behave for your beloved professor,"

With that, the professor took ahold of my mouth with his in a heated kiss; leaving no room for any argument.

 **...**

 _Right now, Wally felt very proud of himself. With combined efforts of his strategy and Pokémon, the admin leader Tabitha was beaten with the anger of defeat smeared all over his face. He wanted to kick the small, potent thorn at his side, but was forced to retreat_ _due_ _to the chaotic onslaught of Team Aqua._

 _With a snarl, he fled the mountain before he got captured as a prisoner of war. Wally wanted to go after him, but a very uptight kirlia discouraged the idea._ _That was okay though, he couldn't wait to tell his sempai that he beat an admin...where was she anyway? The no looked back at the plexiglas platform, but the only occupant on it was a that strange, now useless machine._

 _He was going to investigate further, when an Aqua grunt suddenly grabbed him by the arm and corralled_ _the young_ _trainer_ _to_ _the rest of the water-type based group._ _Standing in the middle of barely organized mess was Archie, who encouraged the shouts of victory and other loud noises._

 _"Kickass job everyone! We beat back those Magma losers and we're all still alive! Now let's go get drunk and ink some tattoos!"_

 _The crowd was very pleased by this notion, but Wally certainly disagreed. As they started to swarm to the cable car, he began to move in the opposite direction._

 _"Woah_ _there! Where do you think you're going?!"_

 _Wally was suddenly held back by Archie's powerful hand. The boy's shoulder felt so much power come from that strong grip, that his muscles nearly felt crushed there. He didn't really want to, but Wally made himself look back at the intimidating man. No sooner had they made eye contact, Archie's grin grew more wild._

 _"I-I'm uh, I was gonna go look for sempai,"_

 _"Oh, Lil scamp? Meh, we'll find her later! Let's go celebrate right now!" He replied as he started to pull him back. Wally became frightened and tried to speak up._

 _"B-but I'm too young for all that stuff! I'm not even a part of your team!"_

 _The muscled man let out a hearty laugh at hearing the statement as if he were silly. Then the situation got tense. "Oh...yes you are! The second you put on that bandanna, your weak, little self belonged to me!"_

 _"Wh-what?! You never said anything about that!"_

 _"Don't hafta! Now let's hurry up or the beer will get warm!"_

 _"AAAAAAAAGH!_ _SEMPAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"_

 ***to be continued in chapter 21***


	21. Chapter 21

**Pixie-Chan:** _Hallo my readers! Sorry it's been about a MONTH since I've posted any new chapters. I've been really busy with two jobs and it's been tiring me out! Fortunately, I sent in my two weeks' notice for one of my jobs so I don't get too overwhelmed. But that doesn't mean I haven't been writing new chapters! In every second that I have I've been writing so I can play catch-up. Well…I also been occupied with Steven Universe and Gravity Falls. But Still!_

 _As for updates, I will try to update whenever I can. But sorry for the wait and hope you enjoy this new chapter!_

 ** _..._**

Lavaridge Town was nestled near the base of Mt. Chimney. This quaint place was a popular spot for the regional locals and tourists alike thanks to its wondrous hot springs. This town also had a medicinal herb shop and even a local bakery that sold something called 'lava cookies'. Naturally, the incentive for trying them out is what motivated me to come as quickly as possible. Well, that and...*ahem*

The third incentive was the fourth gym. This one in particular liked using my favorite type: Fire. However, what made it different than the other gyms I came across so far was that the old leader had passed his title on to his granddaughter, Flannery. She was said to have trained with him at the age of six and was around my age now. It made me wonder if dad was gonna do the same to me one day. Preferably, I didn't want to because there was so much world to explore! Before I started, I would have been content with just traveling this region and coming back to stay home until oblivion came or something. Now that I was a trainer, there was this new feeling of curiosity that prompted me to go as far as I could.

When we arrived in town, I quickly dashed over to the Pokémon center with the professor being waaaay behind in his slow, relaxed pace. Much was appreciated that there was no attempt to call me back or slow down for him; especially since what happened earlier. Once I went in and got my party healed, I let snuggled with them and told them about our heated victory. Everyone, even skitty cried out with excitement when the news was shared. Just when I put everyone but Chirpie back, Sycamore entered the center in all of his elegant flashiness. Oh geez, maybe if I pretended to not see him, maybe I could- too late, here he comes.

"May darling!"

The professor quickly zeroed in and blocked any attempt of escape. His handsome smile grew wide with those blue eyes growing with excitement. Basically acting like nothing happened in the Jagged Pass.

"Despite your reckless behavior, I must congratulate on your victory against those heinous barbarians!"

"Uh, thanks?"

"Of course darling! You have significantly improved your team! I am very certain that beating the Lavaridge Town gym shall be an easy trial tomorrow!"

"You mean today,"

Sycamore was acting a little excited; that's saying a lot considering how ecstatic he usually was out in public.

"Of course I don't! I very much mean tomorrow! Your team may be very well rested now, but it means nothing if their master is spent from exhaustion and cannot think clearly! Did you even feed yourself properly today?"

"I'm fine! I'm still breathing ain't I?!

"'Aren't'. But do not worry dear; your vocabulary is a work in progress!"

I growled while he chuckled lightly at my frustrations. Shortly after that, he had the audacity to offer me his hand! Fuck him! I'm not taking it!

Unfortunately for me, he noticed my defiance and grinned in a way that I finally recognized as a 'plotting smile'. "Come with me, May! It would be quite rude to let such a beautiful young lady go hungry!" He said with a bit of a more exaggerated over- the- top voice. When I rolled my eyes with disgust, it was then that my sight caught pretty much everyone in the Pokémon center staring at us or making awkward passing glances. That's when I realized it: He's doing this on purpose!

"Stop talking! You're being too loud!"

"Am I dear? Or is it that you are being too cruel to a humble man like myself?" He replied back as he withdrew his hand, but actually got down on one knee to take up the same hand that hit him earlier. "You should know by now that it is my sovereign duty as a man to be ever watchful over a delicate, defenseless maiden...no matter how many times she lashes out again him. It is indeed a blessing and a curse!"

"Professor, shut up!"

"I cannot! For my heart is filled with much inspiration born from anguish that refuses to-"

"OKAY! We'll go eat! Just be quiet already!" I hissed and yanked back my arm before he stood up with a victorious smile. I was so tempted; so VERY tempted to do something bad to him, but it would only probably prompt the professor to attempt a stunt far worse that would label me as terrible person by nosy onlookers. Having Archie as a traveling buddy suddenly didn't seem as bad...actually, never mind; he still was.

 **...**

After spending some time looking at the limited options of places for eating, he settled on a small ramen stand nearby the inn we would be spending the night at. Sycamore's charming composure cracked a little upon seeing the sight of it. However there was nothing he could do as it the only place 'decent enough' to dine in.

The three of us sat down on wooden high stools and were given our huge bowls of ramen. This is when I learned something new. Due to his three taloned hands, Chirpie was unable to use any utensils, forcing him unpleasantly dip his head into the hot dish.

The poor thing look so frustrated. Taking pity on my battle partner, I helped out by using my chopsticks to feed him noodles and other things in the concoction. Chirpie felt very relieved and gave out a squawk in appreciation.

Once he got down to the broth and was able to hold the bowl to drink it, I returned to my own meal and saw Professor Sycamore with a slightly flustered look as he held his chopsticks all awkwardly. Does he...not know how to use them?! It was a little shocking at first thought, but the more the wheels turned in my head, the more it actually made sense.

People in all regions speak a language that is universally used to communicate with each other through learning it with education (or self-taught). However, each region also has their own language that is spoken between their inhabitants. Kantonians speak Chinese, Johtoians have Japanese, Hoennians use Korean, Sinnohians talk with Dutch, Unovians were brought up with English, Orreians were taught with Spanish and Kalosians were naturally fluent with French. That being said, they also had their own cultures that they had been used to within their region. In short, Sycamore grew up not knowing how to use chopsticks...nor did he bother to learn how to use them.

It was almost sad, but then I remembered the scene he made that really embarrassed me. Thus, I merely got out a new pair of chopsticks and started my meal.

About two minutes in, my eyes curiously glanced to the left. No progress had been made with eating his food. His hand continued to look strange while attempting to hold the two pieces of wood into position. Well, a little suffering would do him some good. Sycamore's brows furrowed in annoyance and tried to pick up something; it inevitably failed. Okay, maybe I should throw him a lifeline.

"You really suck at this," I finally said in a blunt way while scooting my stool next towards him to show the 'unfortunate soul' how it was done. "First, hold out your hand like you're gonna shake it with someone," I instructed as I messed with the extremity to make it so. Strangely, I liked feeling his warm palm and slender fingers; though I tried to hide it. While positioning the sticks, I made it so that one of them was between the thumb and rested on the palm. "Then, hold one of them like this,"

"After that, get the other stick and hold it with your thumb and pointing finger," I put the second piece of wood in that position. Then bend the middle finger a little and tuck the other two under the lower chopstick,"

"When that's done, put your middle finger under the chopstick on the top. All you need to do now is move the top one up and down to grab stuff,"

The professor looked unsure, but dipped the two sticks in his bowl shakily and pulled out a thick mess of noodles. Sycamore's face was intrigued with the end result and was able to feed himself with the strange set of utensils for the first time. And though he grimaced slightly from tasting lukewarm noodles, he managed an amused grin that was directed towards me.

"So the proud Miss Maple finally shows mercy upon her poor professor and imparts her knowledge to prevent him from starving? How cute to see that you can be friendly and adorable! Although, I cannot believe that you have yet to bestow those long awaited kisses on me!"

"That's it! I'm done here! I'm letting you sink like a rock next time!"

 **...**

The next morning, I was able to challenge the Lavaridge Town gym. Its theme (like the town's popular highlight) was a hot springs. Good arceus this place was hot and steamy! I was thankful that my attire not only allowed me to move around, but wasn't completely covering.

After twenty minutes of riding on wooden boards that were shot up by water spouts, I reached the gym leader. Flannery herself was less strict than I thought she would be. If anything, she seemed a little...airheaded. And just like Sycamore said, beating her wasn't much of a challenge. In the end, obtaining the Heat badge was easy as pie with pelipper and poochyena as my choices.

When the match was over, my small, little dog evolved into the large, wolf-like creature, mightyena. She came up to my height and the first action to be made was to rip apart her squeaking toy and attempt to take my shoe. Woah! Definitely gotta fix that! In addition, she also developed the strong urge to want to give skitty a bath...with her coarse tongue. Skitty dreaded those for a while.

Anyways, when the gym battle was over, Flannery and I talked for a bit and I told her who my dad was. She then bursted out laughing like it was some kind of joke.

"Oh boy! Norman's your dad?! You should have been there at our first meeting! It was like:

 _"So...I take it that you're the Dewford Town gym leader?"_

 _"Yes sir! It's a pleasure to-"_

 _"I'm going to make sure that your life will be filled with misery and suffering,"_

Of course, it was funny to her since she didn't think much of it, but I was starting to think that dad had been a little too discriminatory with the younger opposite sex. It sounded completely justified as a kid, but now he sounded like a bully. Maybe mom was right...to an extent.

"But you're his daughter right? It's probably gonna be weird to face him next,"

No, scary was more like it.

 **...**

The next day was our last in town so I wanted to at least try the hot springs once before leaving. Knowing that Sycamore learning of the curiosity would no doubt lead to disaster, I snuck out of the inn early in the morning with dustox in tow.

The dawn greeted me with its burning colors of purple, orange and pink streaking across the sky. The air itself had a mildly moist warmth to it. To me, it felt like this was the perfect time to visit the place of healing and relaxation.

Once we used the Pokémon center entrance to the girl's dressing area, I excitedly ditched my clothes to trade in for a fluffy white towel. One was put around my torso while another served the purpose of putting up my hair. Now that preparations were done and dustox's fear of hot water was gone, it was time to go soak it up!

Dustox and I exited the girl's dressing room and followed a smoothed down, stony pathway that led to a spacious pool of steaming water. Thankfully, a large bamboo fence ensured privacy for all of its bathers so they can relax; which I was gonna do plenty of. Surrounding the pool itself were small shrubs of vegetation and other pretty things to serve as natural decorum.

I cautiously went up to the pool and dunked my toe in before the rest of my body got in. Goosebumps broke out on my skin for a moment before it smoothed out in relaxation. Man this feels so good. Dustox set her ship model down on the water and rode on the plastic thing. She looked pretty cute with her large body riding on the little object.

While my bug-type was doing her own thing, I was thinking about facing my dad. His strategies were designed to wear down the opponent and finish them off in one, powerful movement. Like most gym leaders, he adjusted his level of difficulty to the challenging trainers. Still, I couldn't help but feel I didn't have enough air in my system to calm me down about it. My nerves were set on very high. It was certain that he wouldn't give me any special treatment, but now I started to see him as something to dread rather than the case of being an overprotective father.

Ten minutes in, I went to the right side of the hot springs to lay my head and arms on the edge in an effort to empty my mind. Thinking about all this was really wearing me out.

"Ah! There you are my little birdie! Thought you could outsmart me, did you?"

My head suddenly shot up upon hearing the thickly accented voice of my professor. You've gotta be kidding me! Here too?!

I regrettably moved my neck to turn my toweled up head and saw Sycamore; indecently exposed. Okay he at least had a towel on, but seeing as how it was THIS guy, he found a way to make it look so...wrong! The thick, cotton towel was wrapped around his waist as low as he could possibly get it without any law persecuting him for public nudity. I could feel my senses go on an anxious rise as my gaze inevitably go up to his chest. It had been nicely toned for someone who was merely a Pokémon professor. While I had stray thoughts of wondering what he looked like with his shirt completely off, I certainly had no desire to actually find out!...Did I?

By the time I went up (with my very widened eyes) to see his face, mine was a heavy red. I felt hotter than what the water temperature here promised. Uh, I can't...my chest...why is my heart racing so fast?! Th-this is too much! Then suddenly...

Sycamore's lips suddenly stretched out in a devious smile and narrowed his eyes with interest as he saw a small drip of blood come down from one side of my nose. This was his cue to start taking advantage of the situation.

"And here I thought that you decided to leave me behind again given your habitual nature. It is rather pleasantly fortunate that I was wrong this time, yes?"

He casually stepped into the water and bravely made his way towards me with that intention of mischief all over his face. I tensed up as escape proved to be all but possible; especially now that I found myself unable to tear my gaze away from his chest. Dustox, who was just floating around on the model started to get hungry. Naturally, she saw the towel on my head as a source of food. She got up from her toy, fluttered past the professor and landed on my head to chew on the cottony goodness.

Thankfully, her presence and current activity snapped me out of the strange hypnosis. I swiftly gave him my back and put all of my attention on the large moth. Maybe if I ignored him and continued to talk to someone else, he would leave me alone; in theory anyway.

"Ho-hold it! Just uh...hang on a second!

I quickly took off my head wrap with my moth still on it and engaged in a strange conversation with her.

"Okay young lady! You're in big trouble!"

"Guuuuu?"

"Don't try to have that confused look on your face! You know very well that this towel is not ours! You can't just go and eat someone else's stuff that's not a part of Team Magma or when I give it to you!"

"Guuuu!"

"I still can't understand anything you're saying, but you should have let me know that you were hungry. I would have brought som-EEEP!"

A pair of hands suddenly grabbed my waist. The surprise of it made me violently jolt and startled dustox back onto her little boat. They then turned me around pulled me back against the moist, warm chest of Professor Sycamore. One of his hands migrated from my waist to the spot where towel's end was. All he had to do was pull and it would be the end for me. But he didn't do it; not yet anyway.

He dipped his head down to tenderly brush his soft lips against my skin starting from my exposed shoulder all the way to my neck. I couldn't help but shiver at his touch ; making me feel confusingly pleasant.

"Do you not think that you are being too harsh with your cute, little moth, dear? You act as if she can help go against her nature so easily..." He spoke softly while his mouth still on my vulnerable nape. This was when he grip got tighter on my towel. I tried to must up the want to push him away, but I failed to put up my defenses quick enough beforehand. Besides, it would still be useless so long as he had a hold on the only barrier I wore.

"...Just like us darling. As mere humans, we cannot help but want to give in to our most basic of desires. It is our flaws that we carry with our flesh, but do not feel shamed, everyone has their weaknesses...and it is not so wrong to submit to them every so often,"

Why did he have to make a subject sound so shameless?! Arceus help me if I ever wanted to talk about something simple like toothpaste!

There was no proper response on my end (not that he would listen anyway), for any sound that came out had been short, broken noises that were indistinguishable. Sycamore enjoyed the feeble defense for what it was as he moved his other hand to slide up my thigh. He finally moved his head to lock onto my eyes and take a nibble at my lips.

"Excuse me, but if you're both done with your provocative display, I would like to use this PUBLIC hot springs,"

Oh thank arceus! Hang on! I know that voice! While I was thankful for the distraction, I found myself in a predicament worse than Sycamore; yes there's someone else worse than him. Can you guess?!

The professor himself let out a short, annoyed grunt before he turned (reluctantly letting me go in the process) around to resume his default, naive persona.

"Oh, it is you! To think we would meet again so soon; especially in a place like this!"

I moved my head to the side and saw that it was indeed Maxie once more. Even without his stupid glasses and dorky outfit, his trademark red hair made him easily recognizable. He actually looked pretty was on the eyes, I mean he had a toned chest as well and wasn't lanky like I thought he would be. Hell, when he didn't have his big glasses on, the man looked more intim- **WHAT AM I THINKING?!**

Upon realizing what I was doing, my face morphed into a hateful glare. Maxie's however, was completely the opposite. If anything, a small upturned corner of his mouth suggested a mocking grin. Memories of what happened on Mt. Chimney flooded back only to anger me further. What the hell are YOU doing here?!" I exclaimed with my features heating up from fury.

"Well..." He said while he got in and relaxed himself on the side of the springs that was opposite from us. "Aside from getting amusement from your nosebleed, I'm here to enjoy myself...you know, what people usually come here to do. It's a wonder that a simple-minded child like you is still alive from lacking in common sense," he finished shortly before a small sigh escaped him and leaned back against the edge he was sitting at. What a pretentious asshole! How dare he act so relaxed and casual! What was even more frustrating was that my professor wasn't even budging from shock or immediately going to the cops (even though they are terrible at catching criminals) for something like this! In fact, beyond the annoyance of getting interrupted, he looked pretty calm! Was I the only sane one here?!

Overall, I didn't believe anything he spewed! Yeah sure, he just so happened to be a tourist! I bet he put a trap inside the girl's dressing too to put me off guard or something!

Wait...did he say that I had a nosebleed?

I felt under my nose and sure enough, there was a crimson color smeared across my fingertip. I got very embarrassed upon making the discovery and immediately rinsed my face off with the water.

"And you just contaminated the springs with your body fluids. Were you raised in a backwards home or are you usually like that? Either way, it's disturbing,"

Okay, I'm gonna hit him!

I began to wade over there with the intention of choking the life out of him. Very quickly however, I was quickly yanked back by Sycamore and was forced to be held still.

"Hey! What gives?! Lemme go!"

"I could, but you would surely get yourself into serious trouble,"

"What trouble?! Look how weak he is! Hitting him repeatedly in the stomach'll be easy!"

"Not if he has a large crobat watching your every move,"

A crobat?! What was he going on about? I didn't see any-SKREEEEEE!

Suddenly, a large oval-shaped thing immediately dropped down into the hot springs and splashed water everywhere. I was caught in the brunt of it as my whole top half was now drenched. When I was able to wipe the excess water off my face and was able to see again, my sight had now been looking at a large, dark purple bat that easily surpassed my height and width. It looked to be at least close to Sycamore's measurements and an inch above Maxie's.

The Pokémon glared at me as if I offended it in some way. Dustox let out an uneasy cry as she got up from her toy boat and landed on the bamboo fence. The magma leader remained unaffected and even magically pulled out those stupid teddy-Ursa shaped cookies. "Over here, boy," he called and waved the treat to capture its attention.

One look was all it took for it to be mesmerized by the thing and swim over to the man with its large body. When it got close enough, the crobat picked it out of his hand and began to nibble on the cookie with its dimply cheeks. Why did Maxie have to make that menacing thing look cute?

"There really shouldn't be a reason for you to resort to violence in a place like this," Maxie stated while petting his Pokémon's velvety fur. "Though it's probably typical for a foreigner like you. I'm going to take a wild guess. Unovian correct? Or maybe Johtoian?"

"You're the one who's the creepy, egotistical bastard! I'm not gonna listen to any more of your shit! I'm leaving!"

"So if I told you that your shy, little friend was shanghaied* by Team Aqua, you still wouldn't listen?"

I was getting ready to turn around when my whole body turned stiff the moment he finished that sentence. I didn't understand what the word 'shanghaied' meant, but if it involved Wally and those band of dinner show pirates (with Archie as their terrible leader), then it couldn't be good. Okay, maybe he was just saying that to get some sort of reaction out of me. Although, there was a gut feeling that told me he wasn't lying.

"...what do you know about Wally?"

"I thought you said that you weren't going to listen to me?"

"Well I-

"Oh my! Look at the time! Miss Maple and I have spent far too long here!"

Sycamore secured me by the waist before I could have time to smack his hands away and retreated towards the stony pathway. For the sake of my dignity, I dared not to put up a fight; though he was gonna get one later. "It was quite a nice time enjoying your company! Let us do this again, yes?"

Even though he said this, Sycamore declared it in a rushed fashion and quickly left the hot springs pool with me in his hold. Dustox wanted to get her little ship model, but the crobat stole the item before she could get to it. Swallowing the object whole.

 ***Continued in chapter 22***

 ***Shanghai:** To enroll or obtain (a sailor) for the crew of a ship by unscrupulous means, as by force or the use of liquor or drugs.

 **(credit goes to website)**

 **(credit for directions to use chopsticks goes to vector-stock website)**


	22. Chapter 22

After that terrible episode in Lavaridge town (in which I did give some fuss no sooner did the event pass) was over, Professor Sycamore and I travels back to Petalburg City. We stopped in Mauville, but briefly after much protesting on my part. I knew that if it went his way, we would have stayed there for at least several months! He was really sneaky about it too; charmingly nudging me towards fancy places to eat or making me stay up to early hours in the morning so I couldn't put up any kind of argument. Those devious intentions were all hidden by a seemingly friendly smile. Thankfully, remembering our past visit and thinking about facing my father was what kept my thoughts in place.

Speaking of which, Sycamore didn't seem to mind that idea either. In fact, when we did leave the technology- based city, he was non-stop about planning some sort of 'surprise' after beating him or how easy it'll be. Of course I stared at him like he was a complete moron for even thinking like that. For some reason though, it was almost starting to sound like he disliked my father. Nah! That couldn't be it!

 **...**

We got to Rustboro City on a humid evening with dusk spread out in a golden fiery-orange that covered the spacious sky. This was to be our only night here before going to Petalburg. To make matters turn frustrating, the inn was pretty full so we had no choice but to share a room. I didn't have any issues with sleeping outside, but the professor happily denied that request. That evening put me on guard.

The room we got was a fairly good size with two lavender futons with a small table and four mauve zabutons. The walls were the tan color of teak wood while the ceiling had been made of a pale yellow painted plaster. Of course, I immediately took a liking to the homely decor because I was always a sucker for that quaint feeling. Sycamore on the other hand could have cared less about it, since he preferred a more elegant or modern style.

I was setting down my pack and just finished taking off my shoes when the professor came in. "Ah, still here darling? I thought for sure that you would have left by now!" He poked with a teasing voice. Yeah, I definitely would have been gone by the time he charmed his way into the hearts of the manager and workers of the inn to get us free stuff or whatever else he was doing. The only problem was that he somehow got ahold of my case of gym badges. I could only suspect that it happened during one of those days when we stopped in Mauville. If dad presented me with the badge and I didn't have the holder,he would get mad! So in all, I was forced to stay with Sycamore. Still, I could try to make him suffer a little if I was gonna go through this.

"Yeah, whatever,"

My response was bitter and defiant whilst I turned my back to Sycamore. Of course, he merely giggled at my resistance and laid himself on his side on the futon next to mine. Great, now I can see his handsome, idiotic face; which morphed into a meek expression. Considering that he could have the drop on me at any time, I didn't let up any of my defenses. I remained stubbornly pouty.

"Okay darling, maybe it was in bad taste to make such a comment, but how could you blame me when you always act so coarse? Even now, you have such a grumpy face!"

"I dunno, Maybe its because you're holding MY badges hostage and purposely kept me from knowing where Wally was!"

I started to feel sleepy, but my pride refused to give in and lay down on the futon. Instead, I resorted to pinching my skin every now and then so the annoying pain would keep me awake. This chosen tactic would work for a few minutes, and then fail from getting tired of doing it. Curse this weak teenage body!

Back to the conversation, the professor let out a soft sigh and used the arm he wasn't leaning on to push a stray lock of hair (which I had plenty of) back into place without messing with my side bangs too much.

"Dear, let us say that you did know where that silly boy is and had no restrictions to keep you from finding him. What would you do?"

"Easy, go find him and kick some ass!"

"Just like you did when I saw you in the hold of that tasteless individual on Mt. Chimney?"

"Uhhhh..."

"Furthermore, I would also like to question the authenticity of such a villain. How do you know that he was not feeding you lies to induce paranoia? You need to think about these things, lest you walk into a trap; or seriously hurt yourself,"

"I'm fine! I don't need some Pokémonless professor telling me to watch where I'm walking! I can do what I want!"

Professor Sycamore sat up on his futon as I started to blink more than needed to keep my eyes moist. "Oh yes indeed; even nearly tumbling to your untimely death in an active volcano! Look at yourself darling! Even now, you are denying that delicate body of yours proper rest!" He voiced while his bold hand stopped messing with my hair, but framed the side of my face. I don't really know exactly why but I liked the when he did that; especially when his thumb would brush against my cheek. At this moment, Sycamore wasn't being annoying, clingy or trying to attack me. He was actually being sweet...in his own weird, nerdy way.

"And since you are under my tutorship, I (Professor Augustine Sycamore) will do everything within my powers of authority to make certain that you ( My lovely student: Miss May Maple) is in top condition at all times and nurse you back to health in the case you are not!" He said in the most enthusiastic voice. "Now, will you be a good , little girl for me and grace your poor professor with one of those enchanting, adorable smiles you so rarely make before retiring for the evening?"

Well, he did have a point. While I mainly trusted my fight and flight (rarely the latter) response, they've nearly got me killed on several occasions. At the very least, I could indulge him in one happy facial expression.

As my frown started to disappear and make way for a smile, I could feel my heart turn all warm and fuzzy. Sycamore's own lips upturned with an excited grin upon seeing my now cutesy face.

"Now there is that beautiful maiden that I have not seen for quite some time! All she had to do was put away her tough, merciless persona!" He said with a cheerful laugh. My face tinged a bright color upon hearing the compliment, so I quickly trained my eyes on the wall to the behind him.

"Also darling, there is something else that needs to be addressed,"

"Okay, what is it?"

"It has gotten quite chilly despite how small the room is and it would be much more practical if we kept each other war"-

"No!"

Aaaaaand, moment ruined.

My smile instantly melted and I tore my face away from his grip to lay down; staring the other way with an annoyed look. "Do not be like this dear? You treat me as if I was some kind of menace! It is simply the case of keeping your cute self in my hold for the night! A completely harmless gesture!"

Riiiiiight, nothing bad came out of letting him have me in his arms; ugh, I shouldn't have let him hold the side of my face.

I dug into my belt and pulled out my sixth pokeball. "Go skitty!"

The ball opened and out came the pink, little cat. It took a minute to realize her surroundings, but when she did, skitty saw the professor and ran to her favorite ( I begrudgingly admit) person. She leapt into his lap, went into a circle a few times and curled up in it.

I inwardly laughed at the irony. The Pokémon he interacted with the most in order to keep me within his sphere of influence, was also repellant between us. You see, she didn't like to share very much. Skitty started to get a little possessive and would hiss and get violent if someone so much as looked at her 'things' (apparently if it's just me, then I'm also in that category) . Great master plan, professor!

"Good night, Professor!"

"*sighs* Good night dear,"

 **...3am...**

Mmmm...so tired...why am I waking up?

My eyes wearily fluttered open despite my conscious need for sleep. I sat my tired body up while rubbing my eyes before looking around the slightly darkened room for anything out of the ordinary. Through one window, the moonlight showered its unearthly brilliance through it to illuminate the space confined in the four walls. When I turned my head, I saw a slumbering Sycamore with a skitty curled up into a pink ball on his chest.

For some odd reason, I got curious and decided to get up from my futon to have a closer look. Skitty lightly mewled in her sleep as her small body grew warm from laying on his unbuttoned chest. Ugh, why did he always have to do that?! Granted, he was nicely toned...and was firm to the touch, but...dam it! Why couldn't I think up a mental counter-argument?! To make things worse, my eyes inevitably traced their way up to his face.

Like any human being, I found that his hair was messy while sleeping, but he somehow managed to look good. The professor's face was so peaceful and beautiful! Before I realized it, I was staring at him from only several inches away. Yeah, I'm sure watching him sleep while hovering over his face with only a small amount of space separating us wasn't strange at all! I wondered if would wake up if I kissed those soft lips; not that I would actually do it, because that would be totally weird...hahaha...ugh, I'm such a creep.

"You force me to take such actions kitty..."

Hm?

Sycamore started to talk in his sleep; turning to his side and making skitty slide off, but snuggled up to his torso and fell back into a deep slumber.

"...It is all I can do if I want to have you..."

Well, this was certainly interesting. While alot of things were unknown to me, I was smart enough to understand that he was talking about someone in his sleep; someone he liked.

Okay, good for him. I could care less about who he fantasized in his dreams and maybe there might be some small chance that he could lay off me to chase after this 'kitty'. But the more I started to think about it, the more questions started to pop up. Questions like: Was she more violent and destructive than me? I can be a billion times more chaotic and terrifying than her! Or other ones such as: What if he's talking about owning an actual cat Pokémon?! *Gasp* What if he's trying to own my skitty"?! I wouldn't put it past him to commit such a heinous act! Well, he can't have her! Skitty may prefer him more, but I was the one who caught her! She's mine!

Despite what I thought, I had still been fixated on him intently with my face stuck in a frustrated stare. In fact, it wasn't until he turned again and brushed his arm against one of my thighs did I realize how much I was still obsessing over the subject. The professor's limb suddenly froze as his hand registered contact with the feeling of skin that wasn't his. Oh shit.

Sycamore started to stir with a light groan; going as far as slowly opening his eyes to find out what he was touching. Not good! Maybe if I sat reeeeeeaally still, he would go back to slee-AH!

Without warning, his hand squeeze my thigh and made my hair stand on end. It's not working! Plan B! Plan B!

"Uhhh...May dear, is that y-OOF!"

The professor wasn't able to finish his sentence. That was because I promptly grabbed my pillow and shoved it in his face. Now with the assured distraction in place, I stumbled over back to my futon and noisily dove under its quilts. Now for the finishing touch. I pretended to toss and turn sporadically before voicing a fake complaint. "UGH! OH MY GIRATINA! I'm trying to sleep, professor! Knock it off already! You're too loud!"

Oh yeah, May Maple: The master of stealth and subtlety.

"Darling, I can hear your heavy breathing; and you attempted to smother me with your pillow,"

"No I didn't! I was trying to sleep!"

A small, tired chuckle erupted from hearing my lie and he shifted slightly in his quilts. "If you declare so, little birdie. I do suppose it may have been all apart of my wild imagination. However, I think I shall keep your pillow for my troubles,"

With that, he gave a short, tired smile in my direction and laid back down with the fluffy object in hand. Oh good, he finally bought it. And though I had to burrow deep into my futon so I could have something soft underneath my head, I was fortunate to be let off easy. Weariness took over once again and I went to sleep.

 **...**

The morning came to quick for me, I tried so hard to ignore the chirping bird Pokémon and bright rays of sunlight that now flooded through the window by balling myself up in the mass of quilts. Unfortunately, Professor Sycamore bursted through the door with what seemed to be an unrelenting supply of energy. How could this guy function so properly?! Just a few minutes of an interrupted sleep cycle threw me out of whack, but he was going along just fine! Did he always sleep so little?! Actually, that would make plenty of sense considering how early I've seen him up. Still, he was just all around very weird.

"Good morning dearest! It is time to wake up! Sleeping in is not an option today!" He said in an extra excited voice. From the security of my covers, could hear the soft mewling of skitty that were followed by the noises of Sycamore's silk trousers rustling; probably from my cat Pokémon rubbing up against them.

"Uuuuuuuuugh...leave me alone...i don't want to get up,"

"Maybe you would have wanted to, if you did not spend most of your night watching me with such interesting intentions while I slept!" He poked once more.

"I wasn't...for the kajillionth time...lemme sleep..."

"Darling, if you keep refusing to get yourself up and ready for the day, then I might have to resort to using a form of incentive of my choosing!" He declared with a tinge more of estaticness in his tone.

"Mmmmgh..."

I was very focused on trying to get rest, so forming a decent sentence hadn't been a top priority in my brain. As my eyes were still closed, my ears suddenly registered light footsteps. Huh, they're getting kinda closer...its actually starting to irritate me-WAS I JUST TALKING TO SYCAMORE?!

Very quickly, I remembered what kind of possible consequences might ensue if I didn't listen to him. Outside the futon, the professor was now only inches away with the full intent of grabbing and tearing away the thick quilts when my head popped out from underneath them. My eyes were wide open with fright from how close I came from receiving his method of waking me up. "OKAY, OKAY! I'm up! Just gimme five minutes!"

 **...**

Soon enough, we were back on the road again with our backs turned to Rustboro City and our faces pointed towards Petalburg Woods (after he was benevolent enough to give me my badges back...okay, I whined until he gave in).From the time we went into venturing through it, my anxiety grew. Not getting enough rest really didn't help me either. Of course, Sycamore made it worse. I felt more scared everytime he would mention me battling my dad and that he would actually try to get permission to observe the match between us. Did he want me to get a heart attack?! I had to get rid of him fast or I'll definitely lose! Fortunately, I could ditch him easy without recalling any of my Pokémon since they were all back I my belt to save their energy.

I did a quick 180 degree turn to face the kalosian. "Professor, I hafta use the bathroom! Sycamore stopped to give me a puzzled look before registering my need. He actually looked a little unsure.

"We should go back then? It could be some time before we reach Petalburg City,"

"Darling, it is such an uncivilized place to go!"

"I can't wait! I gotta go now!"

"Darling, this place is so uncivilized to conduct your...'business' here!"

"I can be civilized when I'm dead! Now stay here while I go over there in those bushes...and DON'T let anyone go over there!"

With that argument won, I immediately made a run for it to the large shrubs and dove in with no hesitation. Once the cover of greenery effectively hid me, I got down on my stomach and started to crawl away. It was a little nerve-wracking to make sure that I wasn't making a whole lot of noise while doing so. Even though guilt was gnawing away at my conscious for leaving Sycamore yet again, I was committing the act for the sake of my focus. Still, I wonder how long he would wait before he caught on that I was missing.

 **...**

This was it: I was finally gonna do it. The time had come to challenge my father. When I got back to Petalburg, I made a pit stop at the center to catch my breath. It was mid-afternoon by the time I arrived, so it was decided that preparing myself mentally would be a good idea. My nerves were so spiked that they could poke a hole in concrete.

Okay, I'm just blowing it out of proportion. Maybe its not as terrifying as I'm making it out to be. I mean its only my very intimidating father...*shudders*

After being trapped in my thoughts for too long, I promptly jumped up to my feet and shook my head. I better hurt up and do this before I faint or something. Besides, it had been at least fifteen minutes since I came to the Pokémon center. The fib that the professor believed bought me at least a ten-minute head start. Time to go get the balance badge before something goes wrong!

 **...**

The Petalburg City Gym was a traditional looking dojo that stood proudly in the heart of the quaint civilization. From its cyan blue shingles to its old built wood, this place really suited my father; especially the height. From how it was looming over the smaller buildings, any poor fool of a challenger wouldn't have any problem feeling intimidated. Ugh, why don't you stick spiked wooden poles at the front with severed eads topping them?! Might as well dad!

Anxiety shook me from head to toe, but I braced myself and pushed the doors opened. When the heavy doors gave way, my eyes gazed upon the interior that matched the theme of the outside; except more newer looking. Coffee brown wood made up the walls and ceiling the entrance only had about three square feet of polished wood with the rest of the floor in the large room covered in tatami*. Oh, better lose the footwear. Immediately, I sat down to take off my shoes and left them neatly by the wall next to the others. Now the only thing I had on my feet were cherry-colored socks.

Now ready to fight my way through the gym, I looked around the large room more thoroughly and discovered two doors that were spaced several feet from each other. I hope it wasn't one of those gyms that forced trainers to take pop quizzes; my brain didn't want gl handle a challenge like that.

For several moments, I debated which one to go through. Anxiety started to creep up on me again, so I decided on the door to the right. Crossing the floor and hopping up to the ledge, I went to the entrance and opened it to reveal a slightly smaller room. Inside, there was a female trainer sitting on her knees with two doors behind her. Hm, how long was she sitting like that? Her legs must have fallen asleep by now!

The trainer had previously sitting there with her eyes closed in meditation, but upon hearing my presence, she opened them and flawlessly stood up. "Welcome May Maple to the Petalburg City gym! We have been expecting you for some time now!"

"You have? How?"

"How else? Your father,"

 **...A month after May left with Brendan from then on ...**

 _Every morning at the Petalburg City Gym lounge when 8:01 hit, Norman strolled right in with the trainers of the gym who were watching a small television set. It had all been fine and dandy until a very thick kendo sword went eight through the screen. That certainly got their attention as they all turned their eyes on him. His face was completely etched with ferocity. The only boy trainer (Which the gym guidelines forced him to have despite the leeway Ericka got) looked nervous with the rest of his companions sharing the same feeling of dread._

 _"*Ahem* Good morning, today will be the start of a daily announcement of a match that you all will be participating in, within the future,"_

 _He pulled out a picture of May Maple. Like most photos of her, she had an angry face that couldn't be taken seriously. He held it out for everyone to see before putting it in his jacket. "This girl will eventually make her way here to defeat me. Since you are all what stands as the obstacles between the challenger and I, my expectations for you will be high...except for you, Cornelius, because I don't expect much from am uncouth hooligan like you. Feel free to quit at any time,"_

 _The teen felt a blow being taken to his self confidence, but he kept his mouth tightly shut. The last thing he wanted to do was give his superior a reason to beat the shit out of him with that kendo sword he always carried. At least his wife was so much nicer. How did she ever marry him anyway?"_

 _"When you encounter her, put every ounce of your will into your abilities as a trainer! For the sake of your pride, become an impossible wall that is not scaled by ordinary means!"_

 _The air grew heavy as his intimidation started to leak in the atmosphere._

 _"If you fail, the consequences will be great!"_

 _ **...**_

"So, he's gonna empty out the lounge?"

"You clearly don't understand. All of us treasure our safe haven between the strict training and challenger battles! If you defeat us, our only place for entertainment will be stripped into nothingness and I won't be able to watch Titan teens in the morning anymore!"

Good arceus! What kind of horrible torture was my dad bringing upon his workers?! He's never done such a terrible thing to me like that in my life! Maybe ground me for a day or sent me to bed early, but not something so insane as that! While I felt bad for my opponents to be stuck in a situation so horrifying, I couldn't back down. If I did, then I would fail as a trainer and let my team down.

"Sorry to hear that, but I'm not gonna give up! So I've got to battle at my hardest!"

The trainer across from me said nothing immediately in return, but grabbed a pokeball from her belt. It was clear that words in a situation like this would do little to affect either parties.

"So be it, May Maple! Then prepare yourself to face my swiftness in battle! I will be as quick as I can to put your team out of commission!"

 **...**

All the battles I powered through in this gym were super tough! Each trainer I came across had their own strategy for battling. They were formidable and kept me on my toes, but they were no match for the combined efforts of Chirpie and mightyena. Since my firebird was half fighting-type and used those kinds of moves, it was nearly a flawless victory. Though mightyena wasn't similar to her bird-like counterpart, she still had some moves that she could use to her advantage.

Funny enough, the most strongest of the trainers there was the only boy in the gym. His zangoose did everything it could to bring down my dark-type. It struck fast and hard without letting up. Unfortunately for him, my large wolf was faster and full of more energy. In the end, zangoose fell with a heavy thud and mightyena was barely left standing. After giving my Pokémon soda to drink, the boy trainer and I withdrew our battle partners before giving each other a respectful bow.

"That was a pretty good match. You fight good,"

" Thanks,"

"So I guess this is it. You're gonna be facing your dad next,"

"Oh, uh yeah,"

"I uh...I know Norman's your dad and all, but he's kind of a dick,"

"Yeah, I know...well, see ya,"

"See ya,"

I gave the boy a short wave and went behind him so I could get to the large, menacing doors that were obviously designed more for intimidation than practicality. My nerves were starting to get rattled again as anxiety began to build up inside. Here I am; just behind this door was my father. Mustering up my strength, I pushed against the heavy, wooden doors until they began to move. Slowly but surely, they gave way to my force. I kept on pushing until they revealed a large room.

"Okay dad! I'm ready to beat-eh?"

The room I was in had no tatami mat flooring. It was just made of a dark polished wood whose tree species was unknown to me. There was a large window that took up 90% of the wall standing across from me in the room with a framed rice paper canvas. The symbol of the gym was brushed on there with black ink. Through the large window , I could see a sakura tree sitting by the edge of a small pond. Surrounding the two objects were little shrubs that sat on lush, green grass.

While the sight was pretty, there was only one question: Where the hell was dad?! Yeah! No matter how many times I looked around the room, he was nowhere to be found! Tell me this wasn't some sick joke! Maybe all this anxiety finally made me snap and I'm dreaming all of this up! HAHA! AHAHAHAHAHA"- "Oh, May. You're here already?"

I was beginning to enter a breakdown when a voice got my attention from behind. Instantly, I whirled around to see the whole cause of my mental misery: My father.

For the purposes of his gym, the maple sandals on his feet were gone; leaving him barefoot. Aside from that, my dad's features hardened due to the 'work mode' he was in. The porcelain cup of green tea that he had in his hand told me that he was on a short break.

I stood there completely clueless as to how I should respond to him. In the perspective of my dad, he must have thought that I looked adorable, for his stern expression lightened up a little and ruffled my hair. Back before I started my travels, I would have enjoyed the fatherly gesture. Now, I felt a little embarrassed, so it came as a surprise to him when I leaned back to escape further ruffling. He immediately dropped his hand to avoid any awkwardness, but it was inevitably in his voice.

"...So May...*ahem* I must congratulate you for coming this far. Even now you have brought yourself flawlessly here before me-"

"Dad, how are you?"

He was a little taken back by the question,as it wasn't what he expected. It had been a long time since I saw him; let alone mom. Even though I was nervous about battling my dad, it was still disappointing deep down that he couldn't even say anything that other than business. Now that I think about it, I did more of the affection giving while he merely ruffled my hair.

"I'm, um...fine,"

"And how's mom?"

"She's fine as well,"

An awkward silence suddenly took over between the both of us. Wow, this was the last thing that I expected to happen. Quick! Say something to salvage the situation!

"Oh...good,"

Shit! Try something else!

"I'm glad. I missed you both," my voice managed to choke out. Dad looked at me a little more strangely ( probably because of my off behavior) but chose not to make a comment about it. Instead, he stepped back and sat on the floor. "May, why don't you join me for a moment?"he requested with a calm tone. That...came right out of left field. I didn't really know how to respond to that other than giving a nod and joined him on the floor.

Now that the two of us were sitting, it felt somewhat better; although dad sat on his knees while I chose to be cross-legged. Still, it certainly beat him towering over me or making my sentences sound awkward. "Forgive me May. Just seeing you here after your journey so far gives me a sense of pride. But I keep forgetting that you're still so young,"

"I-I'm not that little! I'm two years away from being an adult!"

"But you are. In more ways than you think; it's nothing to be ashamed of. Just don't try to grow up too fast,"

From that, my dad did something that I wouldn't have anticipated in a million years. He got up from where he was sitting and went over to me. Before I could say anything, he got back down to his knees again and gave me a hug. This was...entirely new, but I liked it. Back when I left dad at the gym, he made a point that any displays of affection weren't allowed while he was at work. Yet here he was, embracing me with his fatherly cares. I buried my face in his shirt like I always did and hugged him back. I could feel my eyes getting all teary. Out of all the things to happen, this is definitely one of the last things I expected!

The two of us stayed that way for what seemed like forever ( even though it had only been ten minutes) when my father began to hear muffled sniffling sounds.

"May are you crying?"

"NO!"

Oh yeah, that was very convincing!

Pretty much knowing that it was a lie, he moved away to see my face. Lo and behold, my eyes were wet and my nose started to run. Ugh, why did crying make people look so gross? I looked back at him to see something that was supposed to represent a short smile. In response, my mouth fell down in a pouty frown while I quickly rubbed my face dry.

"Not crying huh?"

"Whatever dad! Let's just start the match already!"

 **...**

 _Back in Littleroot Town where May Maple's residence laid was Mrs. Maple; tidying up the house. A daily routine that she brought over from Johto, and the Hoenn humidity wasn't going to slow her down. She had just finished sweeping the kitchen when the doorbell rang. Oh? Was Mrs. Birch here already? May's mother stopped what she wad doing to answer the door._

 _Upon opening it, she found out very quickly that hadn't been her next door neighbor. "Good day, madam. I was wondering if this is the Birch residence. You see, I'm a very big fan of his," the person at the door asked. The visitor in question looked to be around the same height as Norman wearing a brown suit. For some reason though, it felt like the attire clashed with him. Maybe it had something to do with his large glasses and flaming red hair. He looked very odd, but then who was she to judge after marrying a man who refused to let their daughter have a normal relationship with any boy._

 _"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, but this is the Maple residence and Professor Birch will be out for some time,"_

 _"The Maple residence. That name sounds very familiar,"_

 _"Oh yes! My husband Norman is the new gym leader in Petalburg City!"_

 _"Hmm, not him, but rather someone else,"_

 _"Oh. Then you must be talking about my...'impulsive' daughter,"_

 _"Yes, I believe that's it. May Maple then,"_

 _Oh please tell me that she's not beating up poor, young boys in the street everywhere she goes,"_

 _"Oh the contrary, she's been quite popular in the news lately...for the better,"_

 _"Really?! I must insist that you come in then and talk more about it!"_

 ***Continued in chapter 23***

 ***Tatami: Rice mat flooring**


	23. Chapter 23

An hour later, dad (aka the fifth gym leader, Norman Maple) and I stood at opposite sides of the gym. My determined expression replaced the sniffling/ pouty one I wore earlier. All the anxiety that nearly suffocated me melted away as a pokeball was readied in my hand. On the other side, my father stood perfectly still with an arm firmly behind his back and the other gripping his Pokémon ball.

"As you are aware of so far, the gym leaders you have or will encounter fight at the level according to their opponent. Mostly an even fight that makes a balanced system in which every region has adapted to forge a better relationship between a trainer and their Pokémon whether they win or lose," while keeping his gaze trained on me. The atmosphere of the gym started to feel heavy. This is the part where he would turn ruthless in every battle I watched him participate in.

"However, I will do no such thing,"

...Uh, what?

It took me a second to take in that statement before a shocked reaction occurred. "Hang on! That's not fair! What about the rules?!" I protested with my sorta angry face out again. From that question, a grim chuckle came out of my dad.

"To that May Maple, I say: Screw the rules; I'm a gym leader,"

He turned around for a moment to stare out at the window and let out a sigh. "How long has it been since that gang of atrocious scum in Johto dissolved? Eight, maybe nine years ago? And before that time, how many people opposed them?"

"...Am I supposed t-"

"One. One person did. Just a single person alongside the Pokémon defied those animals and chased them out of the region. But if that single person never existed, things would certainly be different for us wouldn't they?"

Man, had dad really been fixated on that part of our lives that whole time? Of course, it was because of Team Rocket that I held a special hatred for thugs like them, but he carried something that over to his job. For him, it was a very unpleasant time. Mom and I certainly experienced it, but not as much as he did.

Dad turned around to face me again with a stern look. "I have no desire to let those unwilling to fight with all their spirit earn their rite of passage! In this gym, I will do everything in my power to break you as a real threat would! Dare to defy me, May Maple! And dare to overthrow your obstacle!"

With that, he threw his pokeball with enormous ferocity. I in turn followed suit. "Go skitty!" I shouted as the ball bounced on the floor. Out came my cat Pokémon as my dad's slakoth manifested.

Wait, did he just put out a slakoth?

I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, but after rubbing them several times, he indeed sent out the lazy animal on the battlefield. The thing looked like it was about to fall asleep. Way to let me down after a cool speech, dad. This was going to be a clean-up job. "Skitty, use play rough," I said in an almost dull voice.

It took her a moment to figure out that she wasn't even at a Contest Spectacular and in the middle of a battle upon seeing the thing. Skitty went ahead and unleashed her playful fury on the foe with a torrent of scratches and bites. As expected, the slakoth couldn't handle the adorable, cute power and fainted. In the end, my father (Norman Maple) had turned out to be disappointingly easy.

At least, that's what I would have said if it turned out that way.

Instead, there was a terrible silence for a moment when his gaze suddenly felt like it pierced right into my soul as he studied me. *shudders* Why does he always have to act so creepy and scary?

He withdrew slakoth while skitty licked her paws and took out another pokeball. "Go vigoroth!" He shouted and threw the device. Before it even touched the ground,a bright light poured out and took shape. The second Pokémon my father summoned towered over the small kitten with a face that was a ferocious as my father's when in his fury. The beast was covered with snow white fur with a red tuft of hair sitting on top of his head. This guy also had sturdy looking arms that had very sharp claws attached to them. From guessing the name, vigoroth was the next form from slakoth. Yeah, I should have seen this coming.

"Vigoroth! Retaliate!"

Skitty heard the other trainer's command, but had no time to dodge. The vigoroth quickly swiped its claws against my pink cat; basically slapping it to the left side wall of the gym. The speed and impact of it cracked the wooden wall boards. Good arceus! Skitty!

I ripped off my socks and high-tailed it towards my injured battle partner. However, the sudden movement must had spooked the opposing Pokémon, because it flinched, then got angry and came at me with its sharp claws. Caught by surprise, the only response I could answer back with, was a deer-in-the-headlights expression while being frozen in place.

Just as I was about to be shredded to ribbons, a slim, wooden object whizzed past me to block the vicious normal-type's assault. I stumbled back from the close brush with death and regained my focus to see the object turn out to be my dad's kendo sword now stuck in the wall. I quickly scrambled back on my feet and backed away when my father's voice shouted with much frustration.

"Foolish girl! Think before you do something that idiotic again! Haven't I taught you anything?!"

Very obviously, my father's words had stung my chest, but he was right. Who knows what could have happened if he didn't interfere. Reluctantly, I nodded my head in understanding.

Back to the battle, skitty fell weakly from the wall with a trembling body and sad mewl; trying to recover from the attack. It was my turn, but what should I do?! I had a couple of soda bottles and lemonades to use, but what good would that do if it hits like that again? The decision was hard to make, but I chose to press on and get in as much damage as possible. Forgive me skitty!

"Use your disarming voice!"

My pink, little cat shook her head and let out a piercing shout that echoed off the walls; amplifying the noise of her voice to hurt the vigoroth. The strange creature screeched angrily and aimed to swipe at skitty once more. This time, she flattened herself on the floor to duck. Instead of hitting its target, the vigoroth only got the unseen atoms that made up the air while landing in front of my battle partner.

"Now skitty! Jump on his back!"

"Behind you vigoroth! Get out of the way!"

Hah! Too late dad!

Skitty was too quick as she latched onto the animal with her sharp claws acting as a grip. Without waiting for my command, skitty bit into the opponent's back where the shoulder bone was. The vigoroth screamed in pain and tried to grab he small cat and pull her off. Unfortunately for him, his arms weren't long enough.

Alright! Looks like I had the upper hand now! While it was very enjoyable to see the tables turned, it was better if the fight ended as soon as possible. "Okay skitty, use your disarming voice once again! Let's finish this!" I shouted with barely contained excitement.

The small cat Pokémon mewled in understanding and clung on tighter to unleash her powerful voice; right when the vigoroth suddenly fell on its back...did that just happen?

"... **GOOD ARCEUS! SKITTY!** "

When my brain realized what just happened, I completely bursted out with that comment and clutched my hair. That...THAT STUPID WHATEVER-IT-WAS! When the vigoroth got back up, my skitty was lying on the floor; out cold. There was nothing more I could do but withdraw her. And so, that's just what I did and got out dustox's ball. No more nice Maple!

"Go dustox!"

I threw the ball out in the air and brought out the lovable moth. Vigoroth readied himself to face the flying opponent. Alright, lets see how much of a warmonger you are after I poison you.

"Okay dustox, poison the monkey!"

The bug-type let out a cry in confirmation and started to beat his wings faster that it normally would. From the action, purple dust began to fall over the normal-type. Unaware of the danger, it inhaled the dust and started to look sick. I took a quick glance at my dad to see what kind of reaction he would give. Despite to my anticipation, he remained glued to the fight with more intensity than required. Occasionally, though, he would meet his gaze with mine; having the same, burning expression.

"Vigoroth! Slash your opponent down!"

The strange mammal started to jump up furiously with its claws taking the air. The toxic that had been inflicted on the vigoroth began to take its toll, but my moth couldn't stay in flight forever. Already she was losing steam after using that attack that ate up most of her flight stamina. No to mention, dustox was maneuvering around very quickly to avoid getting-"Guuuu!"

My poor battle partner cried put in pain as one of the vigoroth's swiped hit her underbelly. It wasn't as worse as it could have been, but it was enough to make her fall with the shock of pain. That was her limit and she collapsed forward in defeat. Dam it! Already?! I hoped that she'd stay active a little longer, but it was clear that she was still inexperienced.

As I pulled her back into the ball, my mind began to turn the wheels inside in an effort to out who I would send out next. Well, it was a trying task because my dad always saved his best for last. After standing there for a minute, I picked out another pokeball and through it out into the wooden arena.

"Go Mightyena!"

My large, wolf-like creature came out showing a mouthful of teeth and ready to take a bite out of anything that resembled any targets or a shoe. She saw the vigoroth straight ahead, but wisely kept her distance."Alright mightyena, take a bite outta him!" I commanded while pointing to the foe. That was all that had to be said as she understood the order and dashed up to the weakening vigoroth. Naturally, it strode to keep my dark-type at bay with its claws and intimidating demeanor. Thankfully, it was to little effect as mightyena jumped forward and clamped onto vigoroth's leg; forcing it to fall on its back.

The Pokémon impacted head first roughly on the ground and made the floor crack in the process. With mightyena's assault combined with dustox's poison, the foe's energy was finally starting to give out. Sweet! Time to deliver the finishing blow: Team Maple style! "Mightyena! Hit him with all you've got with your rock smashing technique!"

"Vigoroth! Get up! Stop your opponent!"

My dad's Pokémon tried to repel mine, but it was simply inevitable. She unlatched her jaw from his leg and got up on the strange animal's torso. Without any hesitation, mightyena rammed her skull into his forehead with as much power as she could muster into it. At that second, the struggling stopped and the strange monkey animal laid there in fainted defeat.

The heart that took residence in my chest heated feverently from the second victory being won. I was shaking from the adrenaline being pumped into my bloodstream. Only two more Pokémon to fight. Just two more and that badge was as good as mine.

Dad wordlessly withdrew his fainted vigoroth and traded it for another ball in his belt.

"Go swellow!"

He threw the pokeball and it exploded to reveal a great bird of red and blue. Its wings stretched out to a long, huge length that nearly matched how tall I was. The beak was magnificently polished with a razor sharp point. The talons on its feet were wickedly curved for obvious reasons.

While it had alot of dangerous features, the scariest were its eyes. The seemingly calm gaze that reflected everything in the room hid a hazardous intellect. From personal experience in my travels, I knew birds were clever creatures. Pelipper somehow found ways to distract me while she snuck large portions of of my food. While most of my party was guilty for commuting such a crime, the blue and white bird had been the most stealthiest. Chirpie used another tactic; and it was despicable.

When the two of us walked past a shop and saw something he liked, Chirpie squawked/chirped loudly to get my attention. When that was accomplished, he would gesture at the item and then the price tag (which half the time wasn't worth the expense). If I denied the request, he would make this downcast look, glance at me briefly to see if I was looking and squawk/chirp sullenly. He would keep this up even after we left the shop! I would normally keep my resistance for about an hour or two before I caved and promised him something better when we got to the next town or city. Its a wonder I'm not broke yet.

Back to the battle, the large swellow gracefully landed on the field and waited patiently for its foe to make its first move. It was hard to hold back a shiver as the bird's gaze was akin to my father's; this Pokémon really suited him. But no matter what I felt, putting mightyena in battle turned out to be a good thing after all. My dark-type had a special move that held a great advantage over flying-types.

"Use your ice fangs, mightyena! Don't let up until its down!

The beast barked in agreement and leaped into a run. Her breath started to become visible as she prepared for the assault. This is when I looked up to the swellow as it stretched up its head a little. It would seem that my dad trained it to have little command like vigoroth; if not at all.

Mightyena was now close enough and jumped again to take a bite out of the normal/flying-type's wing, when the swellow effortlessly moved out of the way and drove its beak straight down into my battle partner's head. I cringed and held my own, for there was no doubt that the pain must have been excruciating beyond measure. My poor girl let out a yelp and fell to the floor beneath the large bird. Shit, shit, shit! That wasn't supposed to happen! That scenario in my head played out completely different to what I just witnessed!

As my Pokémon was still on the floor trying to recover, dad's swellow went ahead to take the initiative to sink its talons into her and stretch out its wings. "Come on girl! Get up!" I exclaimed as swellow started to flap up into the air. Unfortunately, it was useless to try and use any pep talk. I couldn't even call her back to restore stamina!

When the two were high enough, the terrifying fowl flew straight at me with mightyena in tow. I was trying to hold out my arms in a desperate attempt to catch her, but it sped past me and dropped her against the heavy wood of the entrance doors.

And that was the end of that battle. My anxiety spiked back up again; worse than before. My fingers trembled while getting a good grip on my pokeball with a sweaty hold. What was I gonna do now?! I'm down by three and there was only one with an effective type match up! That vigoroth took down two of my Pokémon and my father's swellow finished off one with just two attacks! Think May! Think!...uh...metang! I'll go with metang!

My hand shook violently as I withdrew mightyena and pulled out my fourth Pokémon.

"Come out metang!"

In an instant, the ball opened up in my hand and out came a concentration of light that formed the metal being. The reason why I chose it was because of the fact that was part steel. That and the fact that it would be too heavy to carry off. Thankfully, there were enough badges to prove my superiority over the creature of metal; commanding it would be a cinch. "Alright metang! Use your confusion against that swellow!" I commanded with urgency.

Metang immediately understood the order and put its arms together in concentration. Swellow swiftly flew out of the way; letting the attack hit and maim the wood off the wall. In the meanwhile, my father furrowed his brows in thought for a minute before issuing a command to his bird.

"Use your wing attack!"

The large fowl screeched loudly and swooped over to the machine. With a heavy swipe of its wings, swellow unleashed a massive torrent of air that knocked metang back into one of the already damaged walls. How the hell did that work?! My Pokémon was bonified steel! There was no way that shou-oh my giratira, I just realized my mistake. While metang was a steel-type, it was also part esper; a type that was weak against flying ones. Ultimately, it had been a stupid mistake to send out.

AUUUUUUUGH! What do I do now?! I could switch it out, but then a turn would be lost and that could spell my downfall! Probably the most effective thing to do would be to stick with steel-type attacks. "Metang!" I exclaimed while my voice dripped with anxiety. "Get close to your target and use your head to hit him as much as you can!"

Though my Pokémon took a bad hit, it shook itself briefly and speedily hovered over to the normal/flying-type. The swellow moved, but not as quick as it wanted when metang slammed its head into the bird's body. He lost his focus on controlling his wings and was rammed back into yet another wall in what seemed as an act of vengeance. YEAH! That's right! Fear the wrath of Team Maple!

Despite that comeback, I didn't let the victory go to my head; he wasn't down yet! Back over by the wall, dad and I could see metang hitting his hard head against a now furious, struggling swellow. His great wings were flapping wildly trying to escape the released body punching made from the steel/esper-type's head.

"It's all you metang! Keep it up!"

Thankfully, it didn't spend a second to look back and nod in understanding; it only started to pick up the pace and put in more effort to it's head-banging. Meanwhile, the wall behind swellow splintered and broke into pieces as he sunk more into it. I felt like crying from seeing how far metang came from first meeting me. While there was no end to the annoyance from whenever it ignored my orders, it was finally understood that it did it out of its love for me and assumed that it had a better course of action.

Suddenly, the swellow's talons seized both of metang's arms and split them apart. Before I could realize what was happening, dad's swellow drove it's beak onto it's head the second it was caught in bewilderment and exposed. Seeing as how pecking was a flying-type move, it didn't come as a surprise when I saw my battle partner jerk back in pain. As a result, swellow was able to get some breathing room; which the bird quickly took advantage of. He forced himself out of the wall and pushed metang into the ground. Now that it was stuck, swellow pecked at it relentlessly.

I wanted so badly to shoo away that bird and rescue my poor metang. To rub its head and tell it that everything was gonna be okay. My face was flushed with tears that threatened to come out. The only thing that prevented them from starting to get wet was my battle with Maxie. If that shallow nerd wasn't going to give me pity, then I'd doubt dad would treat me any different.

"HYUUUUUN!"

I put my focus back on the battle just in time to see metang let out a defeated sound and faint. The swellow finally let go and flew back while eyeing me with a terrible sense of pride from his accomplishment. Not this time! I wasn't going to get discouraged again! "Come back metang!" I shouted and withdrew my Pokémon.

Hm, two battle patterns left. Well, Chirpie was gonna be my trumph card, so that leaves...

"Go pelipper!"

With a hard throw of my arm, the pokeball was released from my hand and sailed into the air. Within moments, it opened up with a familiar blue and white pelican-like bird touching down on the floor. I also thought it would be fitting to see who's bird was better. Swellow may be swift and scary, but pelipper was sturdy and...super!

My father was probably getting the same idea upon seeing the water/flying-type, for an evil smile (he constantly fails at making non-threatening facial expressions) spread across his face. My water bird in question groomed her feathers for a second before laying her focus on her normal, disciplined counterpart. Time for a bird fight!

"Pelipper! Go get em'!"

Upon hearing what I commanded, she started flapping her wings and lifted her great body from the floor to make her way towards the large swellow. This time, her opponent didn't wait; he immediately went straight for the target with sharp talons eagerly stretched out. Gotta make sure I don't screw this up. Steady...steady...NOW!

"USE YOUR AERIAL ACE!"

Pelipper narrowed her eyes and heavily swiped her wing against swellow's face. The target's head was flung back from the hit and wildly flapped its wings to stay in mid flight. "Now hit em' hard with your hurricane!" I exclaimed to take advantage of the situation. Immediately, the water fowl of mine heeded my words and started to circle the opponent. As she did this, wind began to whirl around within the spinning radius. The swellow eventually recovered, but by the time that happened, he was already trapped inside an inescapable vortex of wind. Meanwhile, the glass of the large window couldn't take the strong suctioning power and broke before (along with other pieces of debris) getting sucked in. As for dad and I:

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Well dad was fine as he managed to use one of the window's now empty decorate squares to hang onto. I even found something as well: Dad's kendo sword that was still wedged into the wall while screaming uncontrollably. Not one of my proudest moments while coming up with a cool plan.

When the hurricane was at its peak, swellow was shot up only to bang against the ceiling before the attack lost its form and let the normal/ flying-type crash into the ground. OOOH YEAH! Who's Bad?! She's bad! You just got pelipper'd! Where's your fancy talons and sharp beak no-oh shit he's getting up.

Although significantly weakened and bruised it seemed that he still had a little willpower left; let's fix that. Pelipper swooped down at her foe. Dad's swellow shot up with all his might and pointed his beak towards my bird. As the two flew closer towards each other, something went off in my brain with epiphany.

"Pelipper...hold him in your mouth!"

"Swellow, stay back!" My father shouted after hearing my order, but it was too late. Pelipper opened her large bill and engulfed the fearsome bird. Of course, he fought the new prison and caused discomfort for my Pokémon, but she kept a tight lid as best as she could.

"Good job! Now spit em' out with your water gun!"

Dad and I watched as the large pelican's gular* inflated with water. In seconds, launched a forceful spray out and through the shattered window; making swellow slam against the Sakura tree. That attack certainly did the trick as the mighty bird slid down in defeat.

Dad suddenly had a frustrated / puzzling look crossing his features and turned away to retrieve his Pokémon. While he was a gym leader, it would be a lie to say that he didn't want to make his team grow too. Its easy to forget that people with this kind title are also just like regular trainers; hate experiencing losses, calculated which strategy was better and over all did what was best for the team. Other than the fact that gym leaders had a bunch of minion trainers and a fancy domain, they were just like us.

Pelipper flew towards me and nuzzled the side of her head before staring at me with her old fashion cartoony eyes. Naturally, I couldn't resist such adorableness and bent down to her so I could bestow a head ruffle on her feathery noggin. My bird let out a strange, relaxed sound in return while moving her head around to make sure I got every spot. A few minutes in, my dad came back to the battlefield with his last pokeball in hand.

"You have done well to make it this far, but how long before you run out of strength to continue?! This is your final test! Come out slaking!"

With that, he flung the last pokeball into the field, where it landed to open and manifested a large, lax looking beast. It was laying on its side in a comfortable position while giving out a small yawn. This Pokémon had a furry white head with a slightly fuzzy tan face and belly with its limbs and back having a warm chocolate-colored fur. Strangely enough, its big, pink nose and bored looking face had made it out to be more lazy than intimidating. While I was tempted to voice how anti-climactic it felt, I had to keep in mind that this was dad who owned that strange Pokémon. Otherwise, the beast would have caused me to spasm on the floor with laughter.

"Pelipper lets finish this in one go! Use your aerial ace!"

The water /flying-type flew right at the slaking's huge stomach and hit it as hard as she could with her right wing. The attack most certainly connected, but wasn't very effective. Slaking merely dusted off the barely affected area and remained where it was. My brows tensed at the giant's aloofness. Pelipper aimed for the same area but went a little further back before launching the assault to gain more traction. Sadly the boost only affected the giant ape by only a little. Even pelipper was becoming annoyed with the situation. Speaking of which, slaking suddenly laid down on the broken floor. Good arceus! Was dad trying to annoy me into defeat?! Losing my patience, I shouted out another command.

"Hit that thing with all you've got!"

My water fowl came down upon the soaking and released multiple sprays of water at the foe. Just like all the attacks however, it did little next to nothing besides make it all squeaky clean. Pelipper then got bold and landed on top of the creature so she could look for weak spots. This was when the normal-type let out a great yawn. For some reason, seeing him do that incited me to yawn myself. Pelipper had also done the same and began to look drowsy. It took several seconds to widen my eyes in realization: That was an attack! Shit! The flute! Get the flute!

I fumbled with my things while fighting sleep. Several minutes of desperate rummaging yielded me to feel the familiar object against my fingers. Awesome! Time for a little Wake up-wait, wrong flute. My tired features furrowed upon finding that it wasn't the desired item.

But by the time the blue flute was found, pelipper was already tipping forward in a deep sleep. This was the part where I was unpleasantly surprised again. Before I could blow a sharp note into the thing, my father acted first.

"Slaking! Retaliate!"

The seemingly lazy beast was about to fall asleep, when it heard the command. It slowly raised up a beefy fist and slugged pelipper with a large amount of force. My Pokémon was hit back at a high speed and went right through the wall that held the outside beyond it. " **PELIPPER!** " I screamed with my heart nearly stopping. My instincts alerted me to move my legs in a run towards the injured battle partner, but a mental reminder of a few battles ago told me otherwise.

When the dust cleared, all we could see was a blue and white pelican-like creature in a knocked out daze. She was down for sure. Now the only Pokémon I had left was Chirpie. The fact that I was down by all but one got me nervous; and yet, there was also this shaky feeling of excitement. This was the final battle. Which ones of our strongest would come out victorious?

I quickly withdrew pelipper and put her back on my belt so I could take out my last Pokémon.

Alright, here we go.

"Goooooo Chirpie! I know you can do it!"

The device was thrown from my hand and landed perfectly in the battlefield. Light poured out and took shape of the tall firebird. When he finished forming, Chirpie immediately took an offensive stance and prepared for battle.

I stood behind my battle partner with my eyes on dad just as his eyes were on me. His intimidation was daunting, but he won't tower over me this time! "Okay Chirpie, beat him hard with your sky uppercut! Don't let it have any room to think!" I commanded at the top of my lungs. Chirpie himself didn't need to nod to acknowledge my demand; we both had a mutual understanding of the situation and how we were going to fix it. The fire-fighter pushed off with his powerful legs and lunged for slaking.

"Slaking! Stop him with your hammer arm!"

The large normal-type shifted slightly to raise his powerful fist as Chirpie sped forward. When they were in a close enough proximity; it brought the appendage down with every intention to crush its foe. Oh no!

"Chirpie- GRAAAAAAOOOOOH!"

Those last few seconds were too quick for my brain to process, but when I became aware of it, the scene revealed itself with my firebird holding up the giant ape's fist with one taloned hand and the other formed into a three-taloned fist of his own as it buried itself into the slaking's chin. Just as ordered, Chirpie cocked back his arm before landing in another uppercut with more force than the previous one. When the third one hit, the slaking was rolling back and went right through the shattered window; breaking the thing entirely.

Dust with the combination of debris kicked up in the air and filled the broken gym. I squinted my eyes ahead of me where the beast was sent. It was silent for a minute or two when I started to hear movement. When my sight started to see the air clear, a huge silhouette started to rise behind my father. If I didn't know what it was, I would have been creeped the fuck out.

Sure enough, when everything settled, dad's enormous slaking was now standing upright with its eyes alight with rage. There was no way we going to stand around to see those negative emotions unleashed. Chirpie sprinted towards his opponent and aimed to give it another sky uppercut. When he got closer, slaking's hands immediately came together to slap both sides of Chirpie's head.

Oh Shit!

There was no doubt in my mind that it hurt like hell; I was holding my face from just seeing it. "Keep it together Chirpie!" I shouted while trying to keep cool myself. However, no amount of screaming or shouting would prepare me for what came next.

After that terrible hit, the normal-type leaned forward and crushed my fire-fighter underneath it's massive, fleshy body. My eyes widened with absolute terror. W-what just happened?! This can't be right! Chirpie's a fighter! There's no way he could be done in by something as simple as that!

I fell to my knees as my brain tried to comprehend a large slaking flattening my Pokémon as a symbol of Team Maple's defeat. No! I don't want to accept this!

"COME ON CHIRPIE! GET UP! YOU GOTTA!"

"Enough. You fought well, but it seems that you're not ready to face me yet,"

Fucking easy for him to say! He's not the one filled with hopes and dreams! I could feel my chest tighten with suffocating pain. I knew it wasn't mature to get all broken up about it, but this was a battle with my father. Its kind of a big deal when you lose to someone you've been training especially hard to surpass.

My dad took out his pokeball and aimed it at the now sleepy slaking. " Slaking, return!" He shouted as the red light shot out to surround the beast.

The animal started to merge with the light, but then it suddenly stopped and dissipated. Dad furrowed his brows in confusion and examined the ball for a moment before trying again. Once again, the light surrounded it, but broke off and dissolved. Did his pokeball break or something?

Suddenly, slaking's body started to slowly rise off the ground. I could hardly believe what I was seeing but my heart swelled with hope and gladness as Chirpie was now staring at me with a determined look while holding the giant ape above his head. He was also jerking his head to the side for some reas-oh, time to move!

I quickly got out of the way to give Chripie some space. Within seconds, he gathered up his strength and threw the slaking as hard as he could. The normal-type sailed through the air and broke the heavy wooden doors in the process. While that was a flawlessly awesome attack, Chirpie wasn't done yet.

In the next instant, Chirpie's leg bursted into a glowing orange flame. Wow, he looked so cool; which made me look cool at the same time. Then he broke into a run that left small flames for every step he took using his left leg. My eyes were super big at this point to capture every little detail. Almost like if you were walking on a trapeze wire and hoped that the tiniest thing wouldn't screw you over.

Once Chirpie got close enough, he leapt into the air. When he got high enough and gravity started to push him down, the fire-fighter thrusted out his flaming leg to aim for it's stomach. In the next second, part of the gym exploded into flames and huge chunks of debris along with dad and I were sent flying back from the force of impact. Outside, part of the gym's roof combusted with a stream of fire shooting several feet up into the sky.

 ***Continued in chapter 24***

 ***Gular: is of or pertaining to the throat, and may more specifically refer to:**

 **-Gular skin, or gular sac, in birds and some gibbons and fictional species.**


	24. Chapter 24

May's Adventure (Hoenn Saga Ch 24)

The Petalburg City Gym's lounge where I sat in was definitely a cozy place to unwind. It had a small t.v. Sitting on top of an end table and against the wall of the adequately -sized room. The Maplewood table I rested my chin on was in the middle of it where one of the four red-colored zabutons sat under me. Of course, it wouldn't be complete without any tatami floor mats. While pretty bare, the room somehow managed to provide a sense of rest for its weary occupants. Right after the fiery battle, dad instructed me to wait here while he helped clean up the mess...and call someone for repairs.

Since the room where the Gym leader resided got trashed by the result of our heavy combat, dad decided to close it down for the day. This appealed to me very much since he was usually got off when it got dark. To pass the time, I turned on the t.v. and mindlessly flipped through channels until my eyes registered the animation of one of my favorite shows: Gravity's Fall. While I was in the wilderness too much now to keep up with it, there were some instances where the opportunity of playing catch-up was available to me. This time was one of this instances.

And so, I got sucked into the world of mystery and comedy for about an hour when the door opened. By this time, the constant stillness made me rest my head on my folded arms on the table in a heavy trance. Of course, I quickly picked it up upon seeing my dad; he had a video in hand.

"May, before we leave, there's something I need to talk with you about,"

Uh-oh. I hope he wasn't wondering about where the professor. He would probably get mad at me.

"It's about the company you keep,"

Shit! It's definitely about the professor!

Nervousness and guilt took ahold of me out of fear that he would scold me right then and there. Instead, he merely walked over to the t.v., popped the tape into the VHS player and took the remote to switch the channels until it went to the one he wanted. The screen was grainy for a moment, but then a picture finally came into clear view.

… **...A while ago at Mt. Chimney...**

 _"This is Gabby with cameraman Ty reporting to you live at one of Hoenn's regional landmarks: Mt. Chimney! Today is a grim day, for two notorious crime organizations know as Teams Magma and Aqua are engaging in what appears to be a gang fight! Thankfully, Ty and I were unfortunate enough to hide behind this convenient rock!"_

 _The bold reporter and clearly anxious cameraman sat cautiously behind dusty, reddish-brown rock that jutted up from the ground. With their safety somewhat secure, the two observed the chaos without interruption. In the beginning when heard rumors of a good chunk of Team Magma members at the top of the mountain, Gabby immediately chased after the possible story while dragging her reluctant partner in tow. In the end, it became much bigger than they expected. Just as it seemed like it couldn't get any better, a giant wailord suddenly appeared; making the ground shake from landing on it._

 _"Holy Tauros! It looks like someone from Team Aqua summoned a wailord!"_

 _"I think that's kinda obvious Gab,"_

 _"Just be quiet and keep filming!"_

 _Ty grumbled, but did as he was told. Suddenly, a small boy promptly landed on the giant whale with an uncomfortable splat. Shortly after him came a teenager wearing a vibrant red bandana. In an instant, both the reporter and cameraman recognized her. "I don't believe it! This just in! Hoenn's hot rookie trainer, May Maple has just arrived! The very same May Maple who accompanied us in the Oceanic Museum and thwarted Team Magma's plans! It appears that she's collaborating with Team Aqua! What a development!" Gabby announced as she and Ty watched May, Wally and Archie slide down the large water-type. Only moments passed from when their feet touched the ground to when they started beating the snot out of the opposing team._

 _"Amazing! Those three are unstoppable! Not even five minutes and they're already kicking more butt than all of Team Aqua combined! Ty! Hurry up and follow them!"_

 _"There's no way I'm getting myself killed! You do it!"_

 _Gabby gave out a heavy sigh and held up the microphone. "Okay folks, due my cameraman being a total wimp-"_

 _"Hey!"_

 _"We'll hafta cut our broadcast short. But tune in next time for Hoenn Now News!"_

… **...Click!...**

By the end of the tape, my face was frozen in fear. Frozen because of two reasons: 1) I was with Wally. 2) The scene conveyed me as helping a team of organized crime. So naturally I had my reaction right when the air in the lounge became unusually heavy. That was when my father crossed in front of the t.v. to face me; his features strained with anger.

"When I first saw that airing in the morning that I happened to pass by the lounge, I was...'less than pleased'. Even if I could attempt to look past the fact that you were helping that trash, the boy you were with, the same one who tripped you up, was also there; and was working for those group of hooligans! I certainly hope you weren't thinking of joining them... **WERE YOU**?!" he thundered as I could feel the malicious question press down on me. Oh shit! He was mad! Okay, just tell him how it went; it's not like you can't tell him the truth! Just leave out the parts with Maxie and Sycamore...and Archie...and Wally. Oh boy, this was gonna be hard.

"What, me?! No way dad! Those guys were totally in my way! I was just uh...trying to get past them to go to Lavaridge! The cable car got stuck and the guy sitting in there with me (boy included) turned out to be Aqua thugs! But I just used them and then beat those losers up good later on!"

Dad's eyes weighed heavily on mine as he bent himself down to scan for any signs of my tell*. As long as I remained calm, then he wouldn't suspect anything.

After a few torturous seconds of scariness, my dad's features softened and kneeled down to ruffle my hair. Whew! That was a close one. "That's my little Maple; and your mother said it would be ridiculous to teach you how to fight," he said with a grim smile. I thought he would get up after that, but he stayed kneeling for another moment.

"However, I feel like you shouldn't let yourself be involved with something like that,"

"Whaddya mean? I beat them good!"

"Yes, but people like that can find many ways to get to someone; and it always hurts. I'm not saying that you're weak, but I'm telling you that the way you are right now blinds you to many things that are more sinister than you realize. Look, just promise me that you won't try to get yourself mixed up with them anymore,"

Huh? Was he telling me to back off of Team Magma? There was no way I could do that! It's like they were in front of me every time I took a step! Why would dad say something so cowardly?! He made that big speech earlier before the battle and now he wants me to back off?! I have got to say something about this!

"But...what about you saying that there was only one person who stood up to Team Rocket? What if...I'm the only person who can do that?"

"I meant what I said before May, but the world is different now. Some people who actually noticed Team Rocket are ensuring that something like that never happens again. There are more than enough people on this planet who will see to criminals like them. Now please, promise me that you won't go near them,"

I looked so unsure with what to say; I wanted to reason with him, but he was like my metang at times: Stubborn and immovable. With a sigh, I gave in to his demand with an "Okay...I guess,"

While he registered the non-enthusiastic tone I used, it was enough for him to stand back up and help me to my feet as well. This was when his face changed in a surprised expression as if he had forgotten something. "Oh, I almost forgot," he said as he began to dig into his jacket pocket. From out of it, he pulled out the Balance badge. The fact that it slipped my mind was eminent, because as soon as it caught my eyes, I too got wide-eyed with realization.

"I, Norman Maple, recognize you, May Maple, to be worthy of receiving the Balance Badge. May it aide you on your journey to becoming Champion,"

I immediately went for my pack to fish out my badge case, but the second I turned, he took ahold of my hand and made me turn back to face him. Then, he pinned the little thing onto my shirt with a sort of sad smile on his face. Almost like he was regretting me growing up to get it. Oh no, dam these tears! Wasn't I supposed to be disappointed with dad forcing me to not fight Team Magma?! Why do I feel like crying all of a sudden?!

All of the symptoms of bursting into a stream of tears could be felt, but I quickly rubbed them away with my arm and quickly tried breaking the mood.

"Thanks. Did you come up with that line yourself?"

"No, the gym coordinators did. It sounds very off though,"

"Yeah, it kinda does. You should use your own,"

This time, he gave out a short laugh and ruffled my hair. Clearly, he agreed with me on that.

While it was a nice parental moment I had with dad, I couldn't help but feel some bitterness with making me stay away from Team Magma. Obviously, he's my dad and stuff, but mom was the one who said things like that to me. Was mom finally getting to him after all these years? Good Arceus, I hope not.

When we prepared to leave the lounge dad suddenly spoke up about something else.

"By the way, where's that...'professor' you were traveling with?"

"Oh! He had to...leave...to do professor stuff!"

"I see...well, let's go home then before it gets dark,"

… **...**

By the time we got home, the sun was hovering near the horizon. It wasn't setting yet, but made preparations to. Before that time on our walk, dad listened to all of the things I experienced on my journey (leaving out several details out of course) and how much I connected to my Pokemon. I felt guilty about keeping secrets from him, but something told me that he would get a little more than mad if I told him everything.

The first one to read the door was me; not seeing mom in a while encouraged adrenaline to make my body sprint to practically slam against the wooden door, unlock it with my house keys and ram it open.

"Mom! I'm ho- **AUUUUUUUUUUUGH**!"

Before I knew what hit me, an arm lashed out of nowhere and fiercely gripped my ear. The pain! Good arceus the pain was almost too much for me to bear! Even dad was surprised by the sudden assault and jumped back. The attacker pulled me into the house by the ear and my now teary-eyed face was now staring into the wrathful features of my mother.

"May Maple! You are in so much trouble!"

"Whhhhhyyy?! I didn't even do anything yet!"

"Oh yes you did young lady!"

Without even saying any more, at the moment, she dragged me across the living room while still holding my ear and into the kitchen. Oh no! She must have seen the broadcast too! Dad, hurry up and explain it to her already! She's gonna tear off my ear any second now! The minute we got there though, I found out that it had not been the case.

When we abruptly stopped and I was able to look up, my eyes saw a very composed Professor Sycamore sitting at the table. His lips were upturned in a pleasant smile as a plain white teacup was only inches from them. But in the instant I was in his view, the professor's blue eyes brightened up and surveyed me intently with an emotion that differed from what he displayed. Nevertheless, his plastered smile grew wider.

"Oh, there you are Miss Maple! I thought for sure that you were halfway across the region by now after leaving me all alone in the forest! I insisted your wonderful mother that I was in good health, but she feels that you have failed me or something to that effect,"

Mom's grip tightened upon hearing the statement. Great, yet another thing to add on this fan-fucking-tastic day. "This poor professor who TRUSTED you, was able to make his way here after spending several hours of wandering around in Petalburg Woods! This is not the type of behavior I condone coming from you! Now..." She said while pulling me closer to the sitting professor and finally releasing my ear. "Apologize to this poor man so you can remove the shame you brought on our family!"

Though she commanded me to say sorry, I stood there with a flushed, pouty face. While I was knowingly in the wrong for committing the deed, it still felt like a sucker punch to the stomach from the fact that he told my mom. That was low on so many levels! No way was I gonna satisfy his ego with an apology! Try all you want Sycamore, but I see through your shady in-" **AUGH**!"

My thoughts were interrupted by the resumed ear-gripping from responding with empty silence instead of words coming out of my mouth. "Young lady! What on earth has gotten into you?! Do you want to be grounded?!"

I don't understand what the problem is here, wife of mine,"

Upon hearing dad's voice, all three of us turned to the kitchen's entrance to see him leaning against the entryway frame with folded arms. My mother out a scoff and let go of my ear to fold her own. "Really Norman?! You're going to let her act this way like some vagrant?!"

"From the way I see the situation, he's a fully grown adult who managed to make it back here in one piece. May's already responsible for six Pokémon at a time; an unprepared professor is the last thing she needs to worry about,"

"YOU...you wouldn't be saying that if it was Albert!

"Of course I would, but Albert knows at the very least what's out there and is always prepared for the outdoors,"

Alright dad! I always knew I could count on him. Even if he told me to not battle any more criminals, that didn't mean we couldn't relate where mom wasn't able to; even if my reason for ditching Sycamore was a case of terrible anxiety. But somehow, there was some sort of feeling present that made me think he had a hidden motive for doing it. Whatever it was, mom responded with a frustrated huff.

"I just...well...I'm going to finish the laundry and start on dinner!"

Mom quickly turned on her heels and stormed out of the kitchen. Now that it was only the three of us, I quickly made the decision to go for the safety of my room and take a breather. And so I turned around in a swift fashion.

"Miss Maple,"

My body stopped before I could take a first step. His voice sounded strangely calm. I say strangely because of that intense staring session he did just moments ago. Even now, I could feel his eyes burn into my back; good arceus it felt so uncomfortable. Just don't turn around and you'll be okay.

"Miss Maple, I know it may be quite an off time for you, but I wish to speak to you about a few things..." He announced coolly while the tea cup clinked from being set on the table behind me. "It is...very important..."

The sound of his alluring voice tickled my ears to confuse me into thinking any conversation with him would be anything but suspicious. Already, the skin on my shoulder felt the heat radiating from Professor Sycamore's hand as it drew closer to grip me. Move idiot, move! What situation made you any different from before?! Well I guess his weird, hypnotic powers have something to do with it; but still! Go before it-woah!

Suddenly, a hand lightly touched my upper back and gently nudged me away from the professor. I snapped out of the trance and practically threw my head to see dad at my side lead me a few more feet away. His face was in a neutral expression. "May, why don't you settle into your room until dinner's ready? It's been a long day,"

"Uh-huh! Okay!"

"Wait a minute, aren't you forgetting something?!"

"Oh, right. Sorry,"

Absent-mindedly, I got up on my tippy toes and gave him a peck on the cheek before heading up the stairs with the swift shut of my door.

 **...**

 _Professor Sycamore's features remained as it was; though there was no doubt that his annoyance could be felt. Of course, the kitchen started to grow tense from the other occupant the second Norman turned to face Sycamore; a terrifying expression was stapled on his expression. "Why don't we have a little chat ourselves? It's not every day that I have obviously shifty imposters in my home,"_

 _"Not at all good sir! I very much welcome the invitation!"_

 _"Good, because I'm going to enjoy breaking you,"_

 **...**

"Boo-yah! Take that! You may be a fire-fighter, but I'm still the master of Bros of Smash!"

Chirpie let out a squawk of frustration and passed the black controller to metang. Currently, my Pokémon and I were playing the me-yu's popular game: Bros of Smash. So far, nobody on my team could overthrow my glorious throne of mastery. There were a few close calls with mightyena, but no definite victories. It felt great to be queen.

The rest of my team cheered on the challenger, metang as it used it's esp to hold and work the controller. Alas, all that cheering and encouragement was nothing more than sad hope. AHAHAHAHAHAHA!

When the match started, I immediately used my left-handed swordsman (Zink) to attack the game parts robot (B.O.B). My tactics were cold and ruthless as I repeatedly plunged the virtual sword into the robot's body.

I was in the middle of the massacre when something started to tickle both sides of my waist. Oh no! My weakness! Automatically, I twitched violently that followed a roar of laughter. My eyes quickly flashed down to see skitty and mightyena using their paws to tickle me. I tried to make an angry face to ward them off, but it failed.

As a result, I fell back in tortured laughter and everyone but metang turned on me. They all began to tickle me until I spasmed every which way in a sad attempt to throw them off. Those cheaters! They totally conspired against me! Only a few minutes of this hell started, and already it was getting difficult to get in any normal breathing.

Suddenly, I heard virtual applause. Once again, it didn't take a Team Rocket scientist to figure out what happened. I threw my head up just in time to see a victorious metang let out a humming sound of triumph. The rest of my team did the same. No! My throne!

In another wild attempt, I forced my body to overpower my opponents, but the sensation from the intense tickling made me give back in a fall right back down. At this point, I was surprised I wasn't foaming at the mouth. " **AAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA**!"

Yeah, that was what happened when I tried to have words come out of my mouth, let alone any threatening sentences.

Just as it seemed like it was gonna go on forever, a loud slamming sound filled the air with gusts of wind swishing around. From how it sounded, the unfortunate object was my door. Shortly after that, a large shadow blocked my room's light and my Pokémon jump back in surprise. Metang most of all was filled with fright as it hid under the bed.

Landing on top of me with his curved talons now hooked on my shirt was dad's swellow. His creepily calm gaze felt like it was reading my thoughts. Dad must have heard the scream laughs. I was right on the money with that when he started around for anything out of the ordinary. Not to sound mean, but swellow was reeeeally heavy.

"Swellow, can you get off?"

"..."

"Swellow...your talons are messing up my shirt,"

"..."

"Augh! No! Don't fix my hair! I like it messy!"

"Gyuuuah!"

Suddenly the large bird turned it's great head to see an angry pelipper. She spread out her wings and flapped them threateningly. Swellow's eyes narrowed furiously in turn and let out a screeching cry. Tension between the fowls were high. Yikes, he must have taken the loss rather poorly. Pelipper seemed more upset than usual too; was this a bird thing?

"May?! Are you alright?!"

I heard quick steps run up the stairs until they started to hit against my hardwood floor. Let's see, there were two pairs of swift footsteps, so I wanted to take a wild guess that it was dad and Professor Sycamore. Mom (as far as I knew) was still doing laundry so she wouldn't be able to hear any noise beyond the laundry room.

"Goodness! What on earth are you doing underneath that large, menacing bird?! Do you not know that it is quite dangerous?!"

"Of course she does! My daughter isn't an idiot! What are you doing here anyway?! I didn't say you could follow me!"

"DAD! Get swellow off me!"

My annoyance could be felt for a brief moment by all the room's occupants from the delayed assistance. While I couldn't see them, their voices could be heard from just a few feet away. Meanwhile, swellow's gaze was still locked onto pelipper with the intent to maim. I suppose if no people were in the room, an attempt probably would have been made.

"Swellow! There's no threat here...for now. May's fine,"

Those simple words seemed to work as the normal/flying-type finally got off and flew up to land on my father's bare arm. That looks kinda painful. It didn't seem to bother my father, maybe he was trying to not show any signs of weakness. Swellow meanwhile, still didn't take his eyes off of pelipper.

Now that I was free, getting up was no problem. But just as I was ready to push myself off the ground, a slender hand was thrusted into my view that belonged to a now squatting Professor Sycamore. His smile was a radiantly calm expression. "A pretty, young lady such as yourself should learn to ask for assistance when needed; especially when there is plenty at your disposal," he said while continuing to hold out the offered appendage. Hm, looked harmless enough; guess he had a point. I stretched out to grab aho-

"May's old enough to do a simple enough task! She doesn't need a crutch like some weakling!"

And I guess I'm getting up by myself. This marked the first time I really felt irritated at dad. Sure the professor was weird alot of times, but he was just trying to help! Unconsciously, I shot a glare at my parent before coming to my feet. There was no care given since it was his fault in the first place! To top it off, I looked down to see several holes in my shirt. Time to change over!

"Alright, everybody out! I'm gonna put on a new shirt,"

Dad for some reason didn't budge. Sycamore however started to walk to the stairs with a slow, unrushed pace. Why was he waiting?! *sighs* I guess I was gonna hafta make him! "Dad! I need to get dressed!" I exclaimed and began to push him towards the stairs.

"May don't be ridiculous! I'm your father! I've been helping you get dressed since you were born!"

"I'm old enough to put on clothes by myself now! I would LIKE to have my privacy!"

"At least let swellow stay here to keep you safe!"

"Swellow's the reason why I hafta change!"

With pressuring nudges, I made the two adults go downstairs and closed the door with an impatient slam.

Well, I guess I should change in casual clothes since I'll be staying the night anyways. Going through my messy closet, I got out and changed into an oversized red shirt and mesh black shorts, the perfect nightwear for every lazy teenage girl who doesn't want to wear any of those girly night dresses! Heh, what kind of dork would actually wear a nightgown to sleep?

Once that was done, I jumped onto my bed with dolls and cushions underneath my mass. Chirpie and the rest of my team wandered around their leisure after that. As for me, I got my childhood friend (Lappie the Lapras doll) and hugged its neck while burying my face in the velvety fur. I got him when I was four; back then he was much bigger than me. Now, we were about the same height. And while I did all the talking, I always imagined that he would talk back. I wasn't sure that I would ever find a lapras out in the wild, but at least I had Lappie.

Without even realizing it, I fell asleep holding onto him.

 **...**

"May? May honey, wake up,"

Huh?

I found myself stirring from a gentle voice and the feeling of my hair being brushed aside by careful fingers. What is it with everyone and messing with my hair? Slowly, I opened my eyes to see mom in my field of vision sitting on the edge of the bed. Mightyena laid her head on mom's lap while pelipper snuggled up by her side.

"Oh, hey mom,"

"Did you have a good nap, honey?"

"Mhm,"

"Good. I just wanted to talk with you a bit about earlier. I know I was being a little too harsh with you, but you've got to understand that not everyone's like you or your father. There are many people who aren't used to doing certain things; especially me,"

"...I know...it's just...he kept going on about facing dad and I got really scared,"

"Did you tell the professor that?"

"Well, not really,"

"See? If you don't tell him what's wrong, then it just creates a big mess. Trust me, your father used to not tell me anything and it kept blowing up in his face. It was like pulling teeth to get him to talk, but now he tells me everything. Why don't you try that next time?"

I took my mom's words to heart while thoughts turned in my head. She was right about talking to him. While I did speak my mind about certain things, spilling my guts was something I never did beyond the comfort of mom and dad. Even with Brendan, talking about feelings or issues were subjects I didn't like touching. But if any drama was to be avoided, stepping out of my comfort zone was something that needed to be done. Ugh, this might be difficult.

"Oh, okay,"

Mom gave me a cheerful smile with a light peck on the cheek. "Now it's time to eat, so let's go downstairs," she said while gently moving mightyena's head off her lap and rising to her feet. In turn, I followed her lead, or rather went right past her and down the stairs where it led to the dining room/ kitchen. Okay, I'll do the right thing and say stuff to avoid any more drama! Unbeknownst to me however, there was already some afoot.

The moment I stepped into the dining room/ kitchen, tension was heavy in the air. The source: My dad staring furiously at the still calm Professor Sycamore. Actually, he looked like he enjoyed pissing him off.

Aside from that, dinner was already set. Tonight we were having mackerel fish with rice. Mmmmh, my favorite. I couldn't help but feel something off though in the back of my mind; something important. Well, I'm sure it will come back to me eventually. Right now though, I went towards the table as mom came downstairs. Just as I was about to sit between dad and the professor, my father quickly caught my arm and jerked me back with alarm.

"Ow! Dad that really hurt!"

"Sorry, but that chair's for your mother,"

"Oh, okay,"

So I went to the other side of the square table to-"OW!"

When I tried to sit down, dad once again pulled me away from the wooden seat. 'Kay, this was getting annoying. My face tightened with a flustered expression.

"Dad, what gives?! I'm trying to sit!"

"Well actually...I want that seat; let's switch,"

"Oh good! I can have a perfect view of Miss Maple during dinner!"

"...on second thought, how comfortable do you feel about eating with swellow in my room?"

"NORMAN!"

Dad and I turned to see mom standing there with her arms crossed in all her growing waifu fury. Uh-oh, dad was in trouble. I should be concerned about this, but I wasn't the one who was on her bad side this time; and so I subtly slipped my arm out of his grip to watch the fireworks fly.

"What on earth has gotten into you?! Being rude to our guest and harassing our daughter! What do you have to say for yourself?!"

"That as the head of this household, all of my actions are perfectly reasonable and need not explanation. You act like it's ridiculous,"

"IT IS ridiculous! Now apologize to our daughter!"

With an annoyed grunt, my dad got out of his seat and went over to me. He bent himself down to my level while resting his hands on my shoulders. "May," he said rather seriously. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you to kick Sycamore in the crotch and make the sweet release of death more enjoyable than being in your co-" "NORMAN!"

 **...A few hours ago...**

 _"Good, because "I'm going to enjoy breaking you,"_

 _"As you wish, good sir!"_

 _Norman Maple gritted his teeth in response to the professor's passive words. Why was he so unaffected?! He should be trembling with fear! Not even so much as a twitch crossed his features! This bothered the gym leader to no end, but he was determined to rebuke the man no matter what it took. Not very casually, May's father took a seat at the table. He was glaring daggers into the man._

 _"What are you doing here Sycamore? Don't you have to go back to your sheltered occupation in Kalos and NEVER come back?"_

 _Although he intentionally made it sound threatening, the professor purposely took it as a joke and laughed merrily. "You jest so much! Didn't Albert tell you? I am to be staying here for quite some time due to my research!"_

 _"Doing what exactly? Manipulating naive people to your will? I'm going to tell you right now that it won't work on me!"_

 _"My goodness! You remind me so much of my employer! Always suspicious, paranoid, intimidating and wishing doom as well as inflicting pain upon others. You both might be lost brethren!"_

 _"Trying to appease me with flattery won't work either! I know your angle you sham! Leave this house now before my family is tainted by your worldly corruption!"_

 _The professor's face suddenly changed into a meek, puzzled expression. He looked unsure of what to do, but got up from his seat. "Well good sir, if that is most certainly your wish, then I shall take my leave," he replied as he turned on his heels and went for the door. HAH! Another fool booted from the house! Thank arceus! The last one had been some old hill Billy raving about the apocalypse all orchestrated by some one-eyed triangle. Tch, as if something like that would happen._

 _The kalosian was already at the door and turning the knob to reveal the warm, evening air. "After all, I am quite sure that Mrs. Birch might be able to take my company instead,"_

 _Norman was about to get up out of his chair when his body stopped; nearly along his heart too. The proud gym leader looked back at the challenger, who now turned his gaze back to Norman as well. The meek expression was gone, but was replaced with a bold smile. "Oh yes! With her husband and son all the way in Mt. Pyre, she must be very lonely. Being the wife of a field researching professor certainly does have its burdens to bear. I was saving a bottle of wine for this evening's dinner, but I guess it will have to be shared with-" SLAM!_

 _Before the rest of his sentence could come out of his mouth Norman quickly slammed the door shut with a heavy breath. Making no room for the professor to go any further._

 _"I've changed my mind, but your ass is sleeping on the couch!"_

 _Disaster averted. Who knows what horrible things could have manifested if he allowed that potential home wrecker to go free. As a near brother to Albert Birch, he wouldn't be able to face him with any dignity if something happened to his wife. Now he was staring at the dilemma of keeping his family out of the reach of this scheming maniac. His wife, he could manage since they both slept in the same room. But what to do with May?_

 _Hm, maybe he should bolt down the windows and install several locks on her door. She wouldn't mind being locked in her room for the night. On second though, that might not be enough. Having swellow standing guard should help too. But just in case, slaking should sit at the bottom of the stairs as an extra precaution._

 _The gym leader was so lost in thought, that he didn't notice an arm suddenly (and roughly) pat him on the back that was followed by a merry laughter. Oh no! He was going in for the kill! In an instinctive reaction, Norman turned around and attempted to go for the neck. Unfortunately, Sycamore side-stepped out of the way. Ugh, he was despicable._

 _"Oh, pardon my touch Mr. Maple. I was merely attempting to act friendly!"_

 _"Act friendly somewhere else! I hate you with all my hate!"_

 _"Quite a loss! I would have preferred that the two of us got along together; like an extended family!"_

 _"Even if by some twisted miracle that you were even remotely related to us, I would automatically disown you!"_

 _"So tense you are! I would recommend that-" "_ _ **AAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA**_ _!"_

 _Both men suddenly turned towards the stairs where the amplified sound of May Maple's voice rang out in what sounded like torture. Without another thought, Norman grabbed Sycamore by the front of his shirt and forced him down to his height. Embarrassingly, he was shorter than the professor by an inch. "You bastard! What did you do to my precious daughter?!"_

 _"Mr. Maple, it may sound a little silly, but, I have been with you this whole time. But maybe we should discuss this later? Miss Maple seems to be in some sort of trouble. Perhaps we should investigate?"_

 _"I'll investigate! You stand here and do nothing!"_

 _Norman let go of Sycamore abruptly and took out his pokeball. "Go swellow!" He said while holding out the device. Immediately, it opened to have the captured light take shape into the large blue and red bird._

 _"Swellow, May's in danger! Go protect her!"_

 _That was all the bird needed to hear as it spread his large wings and flew up with urgency. His owner following behind. Of course, there was no way that Professor Sycamore would idly sit by while May's father took all the glory. After all, she was his darling, little fletching._

 ***Continued in chapter 25***

 ***Tell (noun): (especially in poker) an unconscious action that is thought to betray an attempted deception**.


	25. Chapter 25

I was seated at the table between my dad and Professor Sycamore while mom was across from me. It was a fairly 'mutual' agreement; and when I say that, I really mean that dad was forced to quell his frustrations if wanted to avoid sleeping with the professor tonight. There was no way he was gonna bunk with me after what happened earlier. It was because of him that my favorite shirt had holes in it! Although I had plenty of the same style stocked in my closet, it had been the shirt that traveled with me for so long. *Sniffles* I'm gonna miss it.

"Now, before we partake in this lovely meal, I thought it would be quite rude of me to not bring something in return for your hospitality, Mrs. Maple," said the professor as he suddenly put on the table a tall object. Mom clapped her hands together with excitement as it turned out to be a fancy, dark red bottle of wine. Now, before anyone starts saying anything; no: My mom isn't one to get drunk on a whim. It's more of the case that having fancy stuff is usually reserved for a special occasion. In all, Sycamore scored even more brownie points with my female parental figure.

"Unfortunately Miss Maple, you are too much young to have such a drink! But I promise that you too shall receive something as a reward for coming this far!" He said with a bit of a light laugh. Of course I rolled my eyes at his goofiness. It's not like I cared anyway...okay maybe just a little, but nothing to get worked up about.

Sycamore elegantly poured mom and himself a glass before looking at my dad with a friendly smile.

"Would you ca-"

"I don't want any of your poison!"

Yeah, he was still gonna be as difficult as possible. My mother shot him a glare, but Sycamore merely laughed the harshness off. "Of course! It nearly slipped my mind that strong gym leaders such as yourself are on a strict regime and cannot afford to participate in such luxuries! My apologies!"

Well, the professor was sorta right about gym leaders keeping to a regular training session. Unlike trainers, they weren't allowed to slack off lest they lose their jobs; although, it obviously wasn't the reason why my dad didn't accept anything from him. At any rate, my mom tried to switch topics so my dad couldn't add any more to the subject.

"Well, let's eat everyone! Wouldn't want the food to get cold!"

"Excellent idea!"

As we all reached for our utensils, that off feeling that was in the back of my mind still kept on bugging me. It didn't hit me until I glanced briefly at Sycamore reaching for his chopsticks. Oh shit! He still sucks at using those! Mom must have forgot that he was a total dork that couldn't use Kanto/Johto/Hoenn oriented utensils! As much as I wanted to care less, mom would probably make me help him or something.

But just as I was about get up, something happened.

Professor Sycamore simply picked up his pair and split them apart before rubbing them together to get rid of the splinters. What really got me though, was when he held them correctly in his hand. My jaw nearly fell off with shock. H-how was this possible?! Just as he picked up a piece of fish and held it close to his lips, the professor caught me staring at him.

"Surprised are you? You should not be! After all, you were quite the excellent teacher!"

"But I only taught you once!"

"I am a very fast learner. When you work in an occupation that thrusts so much knowledge upon you, one must adapt to process it or perish!"

"Really? I suppose that's true since you professors are always so busy!" Mom chimed in to make some conversation while eating. One of the few good things about mom was that she was great at talking. Well, she had to since dad wasn't great in that department. I wondered if I talked too much like mom. Speaking of him, dad tried to mentally distance himself from any form of the merriment; that's when it happened.

The second he tried to pick up a clump of rice, both of his chopsticks broke*. This was oblivious to Sycamore, but mom and I quickly scooted an inch away in an unconscious reaction. Dad was really having a terrible day!

My father furrowed his brows in frustration and got up to go to the drawers for a new pair. The professor continued on as if nothing happened. "Well, yes and no. While we take charge of certain projects for the benefit of mankind and Pokémon, it is our passion that drives us into the long hours of the night! Willingly choosing to cut out our social lives or endangering ourselves to quench our thirst for knowledge!"

Wow, he was so dramatic. He seriously should consider a career in theater.

"So is that why you're all the way here from Kalos...to uh...learn more about your work?"

"Quite correct madam! I thought that it would take me longer than anticipated, but your wonderful daughter has been so helpful with my research! She is quite shy and does get jumpy at times, but I can tell that you have raised her well!"

Okay, that was a load of shit, but I was more than willing to keep my mouth shut about how I really behaved. If he was able to convince mom that I was being nice for him, then I'm all for it. Dad however, did not like the fact that I was being complimented by him. The tension in the air told me that. But mom and Sycamore ignored it.

"In fact...there was something that has been on my mind as of late. You see, I will eventually return to Kalos and resume my primary duties there. In addition, there are also some new pupils that I will acquire..."

Mom's eyes suddenly twinkled as she anticipated what was coming. Guess from how she looked and what Sycamore was saying, it wasn't that hard to figure out.

"I am just very fearful that my new students will be unprepared for their journey as trainers seeing as how the region has many climates. Time and time again, your daughter has proved herself to be very adaptable! I would love to respectfully request that Miss Maple-"

"No,"

Mom was broken from her excited buzz as Professor Sycamore and I had a mild expression of surprise while turning to see dad sitting there; taking a bite of his meal in a leisurely way. He looked very pleased with himself at defying the only other male in the house. He finished chewing his food before speaking.

"An enchanting request, but as the head of this household, I must decline it. My daughter has other things to worry about after her journey than wasting her time with foolish children. I intend to pass down my title when she's defeats the Hoenn's Pokémon league. Aside from that, I don't know you even the slightest outside of being Albert's colleague,"

For a brief moment, I could have sworn that a grain of irritation crossed Sycamore's eyes, but it must have been some sort of illusion, for he then gave out a heavy sigh of disappointment. Nonetheless, I had my own issues with dad's declaration too.

"Wait dad, I um...I kinda don't want to be a gym leader. Isn't there someone else who can take your place?"

Dad suddenly looked at me like I turned into a floating head. Usually, I went along with whatever he said, but now that I had been out of his sphere of influence for so long, I realized all the different things I wanted. Even mom was very astonished by my words too; though she was probably happy on the inside that there were other things that caught my interest and ultimately prevented me from living in the house for the rest of my life. The professor, looked in my direction with some hidden satisfaction.

"May you can't be serious. I already planned our training regimen for when you get back,"

"I know...but I really wanna see what else is out there, ya know?"

"No I don't,"

"Well, it's hard to explain, but I want to see more things before I get older and stuff. Mom's always been saying that I should get out more. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

"*sighs*...May, your mother says alot of things; and the sad fact is she doesn't know what being a trainer means-"

"Dammit Norman! I'm sitting right here!"

"The POINT is: There isn't anyone worthy enough to replace me for when my time comes. I need you here to take my place. Besides, do you think that I'm going to give my title to some boy-where are you going?"

I abruptly pushed my bowl aside and stood up. An angry expression spread across my face from hearing the nonsense that dad way saying. The fact that he wanted me to be stuck here forever irked me so much! For that, he didn't deserve an answer!

"Mom, I'm gonna go take a shower and sleep! Goodnight!"

My mother obviously knew my reasoning for being upset, but made no attempt to reason with me; thank arceus. Dad tried to call out to me, but was quickly silenced by some unknown factor. It was later learned that my mom had forcefully latched onto his shoulder in threatening grip. Very swiftly, I ran up the stairs and shut the door with a slam.

 **...**

"*meow*...*meow*..."

"Ngh,skitty...whaddya want?"

I slowly opened my eyes to a now darkened bedroom. The soft cries of my Pokémon along with her face rubbing against my cheek woke me up. Normally, I would have had all my Pokémon out, but I wasn't too sure that my old bed could handle the weight of all of them and face the consequences of it breaking.

Back to skitty, she was moving around the bed and making constant mewling noises. I had come to find that it meant she was hungry. Okay, what time is it? It better not be-dam it! Why do I always wake up at three in the morning?! Uuuh, let's just get this over with.

My eyes were half open, so my field of vision was pretty limited; making me occasionally trip over things or stub my toe against some unknown object. It was a miracle that I made it down the stairs and into the kitchen. Eventually, my sight adjusted to the lack of illumination. Yeah, I'm not gonna open the fridge; blinding myself wasn't something I felt like doing so I can have an even harder time going back to bed.

Fortunately, we had fruit in a bowl on top of the table. I took a pecha berry and set it on the floor next to skitty. The little cat mewled excitedly and started consuming the thing. While she was doing that, I dropped myself on one of the four chairs and watched her eat. Hm, Professor Sycamore was not far away from me; sleeping soundly I the living room on the couch as per custom of houseguests. Well, at least I think he was. I felt a little bad about ditching him, but I also didn't feel like waking him up in the middle of the night to have any sort of conversation with hi-" **AH**!"

My whole body jumped up in shock from a sudden grip latching onto my shoulder. I struggled hard with a now unknown figure that appeared behind me and tried to restrain my other shoulder. Sycamore?! That guy just won't quit will he?! Sucks for him that I have a trick up my sleeve!

"Maple style! Super unexpected grapple attack!"

I wrenched myself free from his grip, immediately turned around in a swift motion to hold onto his torso and-NGH! He was alot heavier than I thought. Alright, again! HNNNNNGH! Okay...maybe trying to lift a fully grown man like this wasn't the brightest idea to begin with.

Suddenly, the light switch was flipped and the dining room/ kitchen had now been illuminated. As a result from trying to lift too much, I lost my balance and fell right on my back with a painful grunt coming out of me. I was gonna feel that in the morning.

"May? What on earth are you doing?"

The question hit me like a bucket of cold water; sounding the complete opposite of what Professor Sycamore would say. That's because it wasn't. Instead, I was now staring up at the confused look of my father as he glared back at me. At first, I felt a little stupid, but then I remembered that I was supposed to be mad at him for what happened last night at dinner.

"Nothing...I just came down here to feed skitty and thought you were a robber or something. Why are you here?"

It was clear to him how much annoyance was in my voice, but he didn't let up the glare. "It's my house May; I'll walk around in the middle of the night whenever I feel like it," he replied harshly with a twitching frown on his face. Ugh, he was acting so mean! I know he's my dad, but was he always like this?!

With an equally upset expression, I got up to dust myself off before grabbing skitty. "Okay, night dad," I responded quickly while holding my now confused cat Pokémon and going around the offending parent to take refuge one again in my room. For a second, it almost looked like he was in shock from the cold departure, but before I could fully read the expression from a curious shoulder glance, he already moved it back to his usual angry look. Fine dad! I can be like that too! You can just forget those morning hugs then! A part of me was afraid of what he might do, but my pride didn't want me to be the first to give in and try to talk things out.

Despite how mad I was, mom was still sleeping, so I took care to softly close my door behind me and walk up the stairs. When skitty and I reached the top, I let her go and let myself plop on the wooden desk chair. The second that happened, I immediately recognized something different. For one, my legs registered the warmth of another trousered pair beneath them. Then there was the back of my neck feeling the hot skin of someone's exposed chest. If those two hints didn't tip me off about someone else being in the room with me, then I would hafta say that a hand suddenly clasping over my mouth to prevent me from screaming definitely raised a red flag or two.

Instantly, my violent instincts kicked in and I struggled against the intruder. Unfortunately for me, his other arm encircled my waist to keep my body in place. "Calm down, calm down..." A seductive voice suddenly whispered in my ear. "It is only I, my pretty Birdie: You're most beloved professor!"

Oh great, now I had to deal with this guy! While he was just a whole new set of problems, at least the professor wasn't on my bad side like dad was. I grabbed ahold of his arm with my own, and pulled his hand off my mouth. "How did you get into my room?!"

"Hmm...Quite easy ! All I did was walk up here! I must say, it is very adorable-looking considering your-"

"Fine, whatever! But how long have you been up here?! I was only downstairs for ten minutes,"

At the question, there was a pause like he was figuring out how to answer it. Although, the longer he waited, the more I got weirded out by his silence as he just sat there; now petting me with the hand that once silenced me.

"Well?!"

"...hhm, long enough to know that you talk about giant chocolate rabbits being your mortal enemy in your dreams. You must have quite an imagination to conjure up such a thing,"

Very quickly, I pieced together the realization that he was watching me sleep. Ugh, I probably looked so weird and gross being all balled up like a sandshrew while sleeping...wait a minute...he was watching me sleep?!

I struggled even harder to free myself, but it wasn't until Sycamore let go of me, that I was able to fall on the floor, do a perfect barrel roll, and quickly stand back up with an accusing finger. It was also then that my eyes caught two foreign objects sitting on my desk. Was there no end to his wickedness?! "And you're drinking in my room too?! Put that away before I make you! My room is a precious sanctuary!"

No matter what I demanded though, the professor didn't budge. What a cocky bastard!

All the while I was fuming, Sycamore did move, but it was only to reach for the half-full bottle of wine and partially fill the wine glass next to it. During this action, he kept a daring grin on his face.

"Oh dear! It seems that my hand just slipped! You might have to take it from me by force,"

That fucker.

"Well?"

I hesitated. Knowing how bold Sycamore was, he could have some sort of trick up his sleeve if I decided to engage him. Oh, and speaking of engaging, skitty was already locked onto the professor and pawed his pant legs in demand to be picked up. Never missing the opportunity to flaunt his manipulative charm, he happily obliged and put her on his lap. The cat mewled and curled up on him much to my distaste.

"Now why can you not be more like that? Soft...cute...dependent...all very attractive features I assure you,"

"Skitty's not any of those things! She's a creature of mass destruction who can make your life a living hell in a flip of a switch!"

"*meow*"

"Skitty stop licking his pants!"

My Pokémon was making it hard for me to repel the professor because her insistency for attention. The worst part about it was the lack of effort he didn't have to make in the successful attempts.

Using one hand, Sycamore scratched behind skitty's ears while his other reached for the glass. "Say what you will dear, but no matter how hard you deny it, the fact remains: Humans and Pokémon cannot truly thrive without any sort of dependent companionship," he said while bringing the wineglass to his lips. Sycamore only took a small sip before setting it back down on the desk. This was when the mood changed from 'somewhat normal' to 'very uncomfortable'. Skitty must have sensed it too, for she quickly darted off his lap and scrambled under my bed.

"Which brings me to a rather unfortunate discussion I must have with you. The subject being my abandonment through trickery that left me lost for hours in a very strange forest,"

"*scoffs* you came in my room for that? Geez professor, you act like I haven't done it before. What makes yesterday so special?"

"Well that, darling of mine, is simple..."

Sycamore got up from his seat and started coming towards me. At the same time, the atmosphere got even heavier. Seeing as how I didn't want to be in the grip of a possibly angry Professor Sycamore, I walked back with each step he took. Of course with him having longer legs, he had no trouble shortening the length of distance between us.

"I had gotten myself prepared to enjoy a bold, fiery challenge that you were exhibiting towards your father! But unfortunately..."

The back of my legs unexpectedly hit against the frame of the bed. Without a doubt, I fell back and hit the mattress. Sycamore quickly took advantage and closed in. With the aid of his arms, he trapped me on both sides and lowered his head close enough to where his soft lips hovered just a few shameless inches above mine. Oh sure, swellow can just bust into my room unexpectedly to make a couple of holes in my shirt, but can't do it now?! This is so much bull! I could see how much he now kept glancing down at my lips and wasn't focused on actually finishing his dramatic statement. Better keep him talking or else he might decide to drop the subject all together and use more shameless methods to torture me with.

"Unfortunately what? Didja stub your toe or something?"

"You know what, darling. Using your cute behavior to pull the wool over my eyes or so to speak and running off to face your brute of a father without me. I felt so cheated from missing such an experience!"

...wait what?

"Lemme get this straight: You're not mad about being left alone in the woods, but because I fought dad without you?! That makes zero sense!"

"Oh, but I think it does,"

HUH?! Did Sycamore get brain damage on his way back to my house?! Granted, he always said alot of weird stuff, but this one really took the cake!

He then propped himself on his elbows like some daydreaming teenager while his lower half put an inescapable weight on my hips. The professor's blue eyes nearly staring a hole through my own uneasy pair. For some reason, I couldn't really get over how attractive he looked while being flustered or mad. Was that normal?

"Think about it dear: A proud professor seeing the fruitful results of his wonderful pupil overcoming a daunting obstacle with a rather notorious reputation as well as removing themselves from the looming shadow of their parent. A beautiful thought is it not? Now, imagine this professor's trust being unfairly manipulated by his cute student and ultimately losing the opportunity to witness the results of his student's overwhelming power,"

Aaand this is where I started to feel guilty. Already, my frustrated face began to soften from his words. I hated when he put things in perspective. It really makes me want to be regretful about the things I do.

"So darling..." He breathed with a near whisper. His hot breath warming my lips. "...what could have possibly possessed you to resort to do such a thing?"

"Well I...it was just...don't look at me like that!"

"Like what?"

My tongue now felt super heavy to even think about helping me form sentences. In fact, I could have sworn that sand was all that I had been able to taste in my mouth. Stupid professor. How dare he make me feel bad for him! If this went on any longer, my head was going to burst! I screwed my eyes shut and blurted it out.

"I was scared okay?! You kept going on about fighting dad and stuff! All you were doing was freaking me out!"

Okay, I said it. Not how I imagined it would go, but at least an honest, coherent answer came out of me. After my confession, an awkward silence filled the small space between us for a minute; though he made no effort to relieve me of his weight. When I got the confidence to open up one eye, half of my vision saw Sycamore having a pitiful expression stapled on his face. That annoyed me a little.

"Oh darling! I had no idea that talking about your father would make you feel so anxious!"

"Really?! So the things that you heard about my dad ripping people apart in battles DIDN'T strike to you as a clue that MAYBE I was kinda scared?! Good arceus Professor! For someone who's supposed to be a nerd, you're pretty thick!"

"My dear, I only kept talking of him out of the assumption that you were already prepared for such a task! After all, your powerful and promisingly violent demeanor made the other gym battles look like child's play,"

Okay, I won't lie; my face flushed at his 'compliment'. While it was annoying that he knew alot about me by now, I didn't mind having my ego being inflated every now and then.

Now that the flattery went straight to my head, Sycamore had no problem twisting small locks of my hair around his slender fingers. And when my eyes met his again, a strange glint flashed in the professor's blue eyes. Before I could process what that meant, his lips broke into a charming smile. Alrighty, um...talk! Open your mouth and have words come out of it!

"Uhhh, thanks...so...we're cool then?"

"Oh yes! After all, it was merely the unfortunate case of miscommunication!"

Whew! What a relief! It felt like a great weight was lifted off my shoulders. Now to get rid of some that's currently sitting on me. I waited a minute for Sycamore to get up so we could retire for the night. And I waited...okay what gives?

Now he was just staring at me with that smile frozen on his features. His hand suddenly stopped playing with my hair to trail down my arm. Hold it! Was he-

"By the way darling, how was the match with your father?"

My brain got distracted by the question he threw out of left field. Automatically, I chose to answer it instead if raising any suspicions from the change in behaviors he displayed. One of the many stupid mistakes I unconsciously make on a daily basis.

"Oh! It was pretty hard, but I beat him using Chirpie in the last battle. And he used all of his strongest Pokémon too; his swellow was really powerful,"

"Splendid! As expected of my talented pupil! To overcome such a fierce challenge with your passion still intact; a very marvelous feat indeed!"

"Really?"

"But of course! There were no doubts in the very depths of my heart that you would succeed!"

"Don't you mean 'mind'?"

"Ah yes! Forgive your silly, beloved professor! I am not completely familiar with the efficient art of phrasing! Alas, it is my Achilles heel!" He responded with a short, good natured laugh. Man, he was so goofy! Well, nobody could out goof Professor Birch, but Sycamore made a very good runner-up. His dramatic and expressive apology he voiced managed to make me laugh a little.

His hand that was free, tenderly wrapped around my wrist; the thumb softly rubbing circles underneath it. But that relieved, silly moment suddenly turned in a single heartbeat when both of my arms were held up over my head by the wrists. HUH?! What just happened?! I attempted fierce struggles, but all it did was tire me out.

"Be careful dear, such harsh resistance might hurt you,"

I reluctantly focused back on Professor Sycamore to see his naive expression change into something akin to a hungry predator. His dark brows tensed above those hypnotic blue eyes that stared back into mine. The smile he now wore was showing his teeth in a scary manner. Oh no! It's a trap!

"No! Lemme go! I thought we were cool!" I exclaimed while squeezing my eyes shut at turning my head to avoid falling under his charming spell. My defense however, did little to deter his efforts in subduing me. Sycamore breathed out a dark chuckle in response.

"We most certainly are, my darling little Birdie..." He replied as his hot breath made the neck on my skin tingle. For a moment, it was silent, but I let out a shout of surprise the moment he started planting kisses at the base of my neck. That burning feeling in the pit of my stomach returned with an uncomfortable vengeance. Must resist... evil tactics!

"...it is just that I felt so lonely downstairs and got so very cold! I thought it would have been nice to have my fiery little pupil keep me warm,"

"W-why don't you just button up your shirt and get more blankets like normal people?!"

"Such overrated material things! Besides, it is proven that the human body gets warmer faster when unclothed and with another partner!"

"No wait!"

Sycamore quickly put both of my wrists in one hand, while the other pulled at my shirt. Had the material been flimsy, it would have torn a long time ago. Thankfully, I liked my nightwear to be made from thick, heavy fabric. However, that didn't mean it wouldn't tear if he pulled at it hard enough. I had to do something, but with my arms and legs restrained, there wouldn't be any way to launch any attacks...hang on...maybe if I...

"Maple style! Ultra head ramming attaaaaaaack!"

"Wha-OOF!"

The attack worked just like it sounds; me slamming my head against Sycamore's as hard as I could. My technique was literally a smashing success as it threw the professor off guard, but it hurt alot. Despite my skull now in pain, looming dizziness and the possible hallucinations of seeing dancing cleffas, I quickly threw us both off the bed and landed on the floor with a heavy thud. Now it was my turn to have the upper hand.

I quickly got on top of him to put all of my (measly) weight on his waist and subdue his arms by the wrists. My hair was now especially wild with my breathing being very erratic. You know, I should have done this the first time around.

After a moment or two, the professor got ahold of his bearings to realize that he was no longer the one in control. This is the part where I would say a quip or something to his face; a usual tradition for the heroine in the story.

"HAH! What now?! You're completely trapped!"

Normally heroines didn't have evil-looking victorious expressions on their faces, but it was a work in progress. Just look at him with that stupidly attractive smirk on his face with a cocky brow ra-wait a minute. W-wasn't he supposed to be angry? Why does he look so calm?! To add more to the confusion, an amused chuckle came past his lips that lightly shook his half exposed chest.

"What's so funny?! There's no way you can escape my grip!"

I clenched my teeth as he continued to mock my power for several more minutes. He just reeeeeeally likes to piss me off, doesn't he?! When the professor finished, he began to speak.

"Trapped you say? A very interesting thing to declare considering how small and cute you are. If I did not know any better, I would venture to guess that this is quite an excuse to have your way with me,"

"Wait, wha-"

"Truthfully, I have not had a woman try to conquer me, but what is life without new experiences?"

...he is so dead.

Without warning, I released my hold on Sycamore's wrists to latch my hands onto the front of his shirt. At this point, the idea of sleep was out of my head; replacing it with the need to beat the shit out of him. Of course the professor took it as nothing more than amusement at the expense of his student.

"Listen here you weird Kalo-" **THUMP!THUMP!THUMP!**

My heart nearly stopped upon hearing the abrupt noise of my door being pounded on. That was undoubtedly dad. Hmhmhmhm; it wasn't swellow, but it was definitely the next best thing. The professor breathed out a sigh of disappointment, and I had a triumphant look on my face.

"Hear that? That's my dad! And when he comes in here and sees you acting indecent towards me, he'll kick your ass out!"

For some reason though, this didn't faze Sycamore, let alone cause and major expressive reactions. If anything, he only looked inconvenienced about the revelation. But just as I thought he couldn't get any weirder, Sycamore turned on me by grabbing my waist and rolled us to where I was under him once again. Meanwhile, the pounding on the door (accompanied now by my dad's voice) grew louder. This is really confusing!

"D-didn't you hear what I said?! My dad's -MHM!"

The professor rudely interrupted my sentence by capturing my mouth with his. I could already feel my face turn red from his bold actions and was he...good arceus his tongue! The sleek organ of his unashamedly explored every crevice of my mouth before caressing mine in return. How the fuck was he so casual about this right now was beyond me. He kept on kissing me for a few more seconds before breaking it. Well, that's one way to shut me up.

"I know what you said, nor am I ignorant of your insensibly violent father threatening to break down your door. I suspect that he could come in at any moment and find us in this very intimate position. Naturally, he would most likely kick me out; probably kill me if there were no witnesses around...but what would happen with you, I wonder?"

From that statement, his grin stretched. Almost like he enjoyed getting his kicks from being so close to danger. At any rate, the obviously rhetorical question made me shiver from how much he enjoyed asking it.

"Quite simply, he would never let you so much as step a single foot outside the house for the rest of your adorable life. I might even bet that he would not sleep in his grave and haunt the wooden structure for eternity! A silly extreme if you think about it, but..."

His face closed in on mine once again with our noses touching.

"Would you be able to handle such a consequence?"

For a second, my grip loosed from his shirt upon picturing the scenario of me being forever stuck in the wooden prison and my father acting as the warden. It was even scarier to imagine his vengeful spirit forbidding me from making any form of human contact again. Good arceus, I would be a hermit forever! I couldn't be able to handle that! I'd go crazy!

The door bursted open from giving way to dad's powerful, sturdy shoulder. Wasting no time, he darted up the stairs in expectation of finding something amiss. Instead, he saw me sitting on top of the bed with a large blanketed form behind me. Mom came right up after him in her robe and rubbing her sleepy eyes.

"May, why didn't you answer the door?!" Demanded my father as he came into view.

"Well uh...I was sleeping and thought it was all I dream. It didn't click unti-"

"What's that behind you?!"

I tried my best to act natural, but dad's paranoia always saw every little detail that could be easily be misconstrued into anything. He quickly locked onto the fresh stabbing target.

His already angry features grew more furious the second he laid eyes on the 'thing' behind my bad. My mother looked rightfully confused, but I could see that the sight prompted some inward dread that would blossom into a terrible epiphany.

"Behind me?! Oh, that's just my blankets! They really got all puffy in the wash-"

"Don't lie to me! It's that idiot professor isn't it?!"

"Professor Sycamore?! No way! He should still be downstairs right?!"

My voice got clearly nervous and gave away of how much of a terrible liar I was. Even now, my body trembled slightly with me purposely trying to avoid the gaze of my parents. Speaking of them, dad looked like his short patience finally gave out. Well, it could also be his desire to find any excuse to put the professor six feet under him. Without warning, dad yanked me off the bed with one hand and firmly gripped his wooden instrument of destruction in the other. In one fell swoop, he cut the blanket and lump in half.

Mom and I stared at dad with dumb realization that he had just committed murder. My father however, couldn't have been more satisfied with his life at that moment. I...I can't believe he went through with it! He was so heartless!

"DAD! How could you?!"

"It was for your own good, May! I'll be dammed if that home wrecker can come in here and do as he pleases-"

"You killed my best friend!"

Oh, you thought Sycamore was under the covers? Well no; that would be a stupid place to hide him. I ended up shoving him in my disorganized closet while there was still time to. Currently, he was trying to breathe properly through all the clutter that he was forced to share the same space with.

With a yank of my own, I pulled my arm out of dad's hold and jumped onto the bed to pull away the torn covers. The sight revealed was the horrifying scene of my once fluffy lapras doll now laying on its side with the head viciously separated from its body. Mom let out a shout of surprise from the discovery and dad was now looking at the victim in a state of confusion.

Tears welled up in my eyes as my only real childhood friend was horribly sacrificed in the professor's place. I still think about Lappie from time to time, but it took a while to move on from the painful loss.

In the midst of my sadness, anger started to corrupt it and led me to hold up the lapras doll's severed head for both of my parents to see. "I go away for a long time and this is what happens when I try to catch up with my best friends! They get murdered by the only person who wants me to stay here forever!" I exclaimed while continuing to hold the faux head out. Already, it started to deflate from the cotton insides falling out.

My dad finally snapped himself out of confusion to try and clear himself from the mistake he made.

"May, it's a stuffed animal. There's no reason to get so emotional about it! There are plenty of actual people you can talk to!"

"Name one person besides you, mom Mr. and ?!"

"I...there's um...hm..."

The question stumped dad as he failed to come up with an answer. Instead, he tried to pull the 'I'm the head of the household' card. "It doesn't matter! You're the future gym leader of the Petalburg City Gym! You don't need to be weighed down by something like that anyway! Just look at me! Do you think I sit up in my room all day playing with-NGH!"

Dad was suddenly cut off. The reason due to my mother quickly gripping his ear to make him quiet. Other than fighting-types, mom was his only other weakness. She looked at me with a sad expression.

"May, honey: Do you want some alone time?"

Mom knew how much I adored my lapras doll, and thus gave me more sympathy. Upon hearing the question, my anger quieted down to let sadness take its place again. Pitifully, I nodded while looking at her with big, wet eyes.

"Okay honey... Please get some rest,"

"..."

The awkward silence was the only thing to answer back as my head slowly lowered back down to focus on Lappie's own again. Mom didn't try to wrench any words out of me, but instead respected the loss I sustained by dragging my dad down the stairs and went in their master bedroom. I sat there for several minutes with a painful lump in my throat and trying to blink away tears. The only thing that stopped me from crying had been the fact that Sycamore was still there.

When it was deemed safe enough, the professor forced open the closet door and stumbled out with all my clutter. Not so much as a muscle twitched to look his way, but the heavy breathing and the sound of his expensive clothes being dusted off suggested that he didn't have a pleasant time. Usually, he would make some comment to poke fun at me or be silly, but Sycamore heard enough of the situation to know what kind of mood I was in.

Still, that didn't stop him from coming over to my bed and sit behind me. REALLY?! Was he seriously going to make passes at me right now?! Didn't he notice the headless body of my lapras doll that was only mere inches from us?! By all rights, I was too bugged by his advancements and was ready to ignore anything that came out of his mouth.

Then, I felt his arm hook around my waist to pull me back into his chest. The arm with the fee hand gently framed the other side of my face and pushed my head towards his lips. It only took moments to reach the pair; and he let them rest against the temple of my head. At first, I assumed that he was attempting to have his way with me. Now, I realized that he was only doing it to comfort me.

We stayed like this for a few minutes as I took in the smell of his acrid cologne and felt the warmth of his embrace.

" ... I can only imagine what you must be feeling from this terrible loss, but do not try to dwell on it. It would be a great shame to see your heart eaten away from grief and lose that beautiful smile of yours," he said in a soothing voice while the hand against my face gently stroked the skin there.

The way he petted and comforted me created a warm place in my heart. As a result, my body fell more into his and felt the rhythmic thudding in his chest.

However, it only seemed like I just got comfortable when he unceremoniously excused himself from the bed; letting me plop back on the mattress...Did he just play with me?! I knew I shouldn't have gotten myself sucked in by his terrible charm and corrupting words! That bastard!

I quickly flipped onto my front so I could use one arm to at least lift up the top half of me. My mouth now turned down into a comical frown. The professor responded with a seemingly friendly look.

"Now there is my angry, darling pupil. Always intimidating innocent passerbyers with those terrifying expressions! I believe my work here is done,"

"Hang on! You're just gonna scurry away after being so indecent with me?! Get back here so I can hit you!"

"All in good time; but before then: Why don't you get some rest? We will be traveling in the morning. Good night!"

Before I could make any sort of remark, Professor Sycamore quickly went down the stairs and silently closed the door to my room. So he thinks he can just mess with me and get away with it?! Only when sudowoodos are grass-types!

 **...**

 _"*Yawns* Oh, good morning Mr. Maple! Did you get a good night of rest?"_

 _"Say another word and you'll find yourself lying on the floor in indescribable agony,"_

 _Professor Sycamore had woken up on the couch a few minutes earlier. For some odd reason, he found himself with his shirt off. Hm, very strange considering that he could have sworn that it was on before he went to sleep. Nevertheless, he had a marvelous feeling of satisfaction from what transpired last night. Indirectly straining the relationship between May and her father was an unexpected bearing of fruit. While it was a pity that he did not get any alone time with his 'pretty little bird', the currently bitter mood coming from the frustrated father served as rich compensation for the kalosian. Now only if his fiery little student would hurry up and come down so he could subtly rub the victory in the gym leader's face._

 _No sooner had Norman's angry words had departed from him, did Mrs. Maple come into the dining room/kitchen with a glare pointed towards her husband. And yet another satisfying highlight from the previous evening. Her face was fixed in anger, but turned into a forced, cheerful smile upon seeing their guest. The wife's hand though, swiftly gripped Norman's shoulder in a threatening manner._

 _"I'm so sorry Professor Sycamore, for my husband's RUDE response! There was a big misunderstanding last night with our daughter and he acted so VERY childish!" She explained with a nervous laugh while continuing to crush his shoulder. The gym leader remained straight-face through it all. Although, a thin layer of sweat coating his forehead indicated how much pain he was receiving._

 _On cue, the professor morphed his face in a look of surprise. "Oh my! I apologize that such an incident occurred in a lovely household such as this! Is there anything I can assist you with to make your morning less burdensome?"_

 _"Gracious no! I've made it this far with two hard-headed people living under my roof; but please make yourself at home! My daughter should be coming down soon,"_

 _With that, finally released her vice grip to usher the tall professor in a seat that was not within touching distance of her judging husband. Then, she went to the coffee maker sitting on the counter to pour a fresh cup and serve it. Sycamore took his mug with a charming 'thank you', but Norman angrily bit his tongue to hold it lest he incur his wife's wrath again for complaining about not having any._

 _In the duration of ten minutes, Professor Sycamore politely turned down breakfast on the account of preferring to travel on a light stomach. Also in that time, Norman Maple forcibly shoved rice in his mouth from last night's dinner._

 _Eventually, the gym leader finished his meal as the professor emptied his mug. Mrs. Maple finished the chores in the kitchen and went upstairs to May's room to (for once) gently wake her up. This left Sycamore open for any non-verbal scrutiny. Already, he could feel the Johto native's gaze stuck to him in hopes of incinerating the man. The violent paranoia however, only served as amusement for the professor. Time to fuck with him._

 _"You know, your darling daughter has accomplished so much since she started out on her journey! I am just so astounded about where she is right now! So head strong and independent; Miss Maple insists on doing everything herself! But she has also grown very curious about exploring. It must be that burning desire to leave the nest and start a new chapter in her life! The youth are just so impulsive are they not? Or perhaps it could be something that she inherited, yes?"_

 _Norman tried not to make any attempt to attack Sycamore; but he was making it so tempting. One of the many things Norman didn't like was being constantly reminded of May turning into an adult. While he enjoyed the fact that she was following in his footsteps, May was starting to veer off course. He had to think of something to reign her in. Maybe fake a terminal illness? Physical injury? That might get her to stay here for a while until she stayed on the path again. Possibly even get that asshole across from him to go back to the depths of hell from whence he came._

 _"Professor Sycamore: Go fuck yourself,"_

 _"I have tried, believe me. It is disappointingly unsatisfying. Truth be told: There is nothing that compares to the real experience with a flesh-and-blood woman, would you not agree?"_

 _The response made Norman slightly shudder with disgust. Not only because of what he said, but how he said it. It was so casual and without any hesitation or regard! How did this man have the capacity to become a professor?!_

 _Norman quickly shot up from his seat with every threat ready to burst out from his mouth._

 _"NORMAN!"_

 _A loud voice that suddenly tore through the air startled both men. It was more than obvious from how angry it sounded, that it came from the gym leader's now uncomposed wife. Within seconds of declaring his name, she practically flew down the steps and into the kitchen with a crumpled note in her hand. This would not be going well._

 _"What is it, wife of mine? It's too early to be yelling-"_

 _"I will yell at you when I feel like it! You've really done it now!"_

 _Without warning, Mrs. Maple thrusted the crinkled note into her husband's face. Norman quickly processed the thing for a second and grabbed the paper. He would come to find that its words scribbled on there marked him for the worse._

Mom,

Still upset over Lappie's death. He's too big to flush down the toilet, so I'm burying him. Need some alone time to try and move on.

~ May

 _The gym leader read over the words once more to make sure he didn't miss anything before looking up at the frustrated wife. Meanwhile, Sycamore watched with hidden amusement. "She's STILL mad about that? This is ridiculous! May just needs to get over it; she'll bounce back,"_

 _"May doesn't have any real friends to do that! I should have known better than to let you fill her head with ideas about boys being evil and whatnot! Now she'll probably go and destroy something to vent her feelings!"_

 _"*Scoffs* you make it sound like it's a bad thing! At her age, I always directed my rage at-OOF!"_

 _Norman was suddenly silenced by his wife's quick grab on the shoulder and was forced to sit down again. The once homely atmosphere instantly changed into one akin to a torture chamber. Mrs. Maple's sight now glared down at her husband with ill intent._

 _"...wife of mine...what are you doing? I actually need to go to wo-"_

 _"You're taking the day off!"_

 _This marked Professor Sycamore's cue to leave. Naturally, he easily avoided getting the wife even madder. "Pardon me ma'am, but if your wonderful daughter has indeed run off in heart-broken trauma, then you must allow me to go fetch her and help...channel those negative feelings in a more positive manner!"_

 _"As if I would let you-NGH!"_

 _"Oh heavens, I really would like that very much! My daughter can be a handful sometimes, she really is a sensitive girl deep down! Please, go right ahead on your way!" She said with her cheery persona briefly showing on Sycamore's account._

 _"My husband and I have SO MUCH to discuss anyhow!"_

 _"Very well; and do not worry yourself! I will take excellent care of your daughter!"_

 _"Wait! Get back here you son of a-"_ _ **SLAM!**_

 _Professor Sycamore promptly closed the door in front of the Maple residence with a great feeling of satisfaction._

 _"And now my darling; the hunt begins again,"_

 *** Continued in Chapter 26***

 _ ***Breaking your chopsticks: Breaking one of your sticks is a sign of a bad omen, but breaking both of your pair is a sign of major bad luck.**_

 _ **\- credit for fact about warming the body goes to quora site.**_


	26. Chapter 26

_***Hey Everyone! I thank you all for being so patient! I've been real busy these past two months, but I'm still writing know matter what! This chapter is extra long and I'm writing the next chapter! Enjoy!***_

 **...**

The wee hours of dawn welcomed a beautiful spread of clouds that were touched by the color of lavender, rose and a fiery orange. It was chilly considering where I was, but in a refreshing way. Beside me, Pelipper flapper her wings in excitement.

Right after Professor Sycamore left me to my own devices, I immediately gathered my things together. The balance badge pinned on my ruined shirt was quickly removed and set it in the reserved space of my badge case. After that was done, I traded my night wear for traveling ones. Okay, now to get my shoes.

Not wanting to confront the professor a second time, I told Mightyena to acquire them. With a low gruff, she disappeared downstairs with the distant sound of paws lightly tapping on the floor. Only a few minutes passed when the wolf-like creature came back with Sycamore's pair of shoes. No, no, no: Not what I wanted!

I told Mightyena once again, that it was MY shoes that I needed her to get and sent her back. This time, Mightyena returned with his watch. OKAY, NO! Shoes! Give me my shoes! The dark-type was stone-faced throughout the command. Finally, I put the item back in her jaws and sent Mightyena back. This time, it took her longer than the last two times. Good, she got the message.

The moment my Pokémon came back up, she dropped a bunched up article of clothing at my feet before sitting down and wagging her tail. The second I held it up and registered the smell of cologne, I realized that I was holding Sycamore's shirt.

"Really?! You can take his shirt, but not my shoes?! That's it! I'm getting Pelipper to do it!"

It only took her just as many tries to do the same.

When I was able to acquire my footwear, I grabbed a bag, put the remains of Lappie in and escaped through the bedroom window. For the sake of common sense and safety, Chirpie was sent out ahead so he could catch me when I jumped out. Thankfully, he considered me as a light weight in comparison to his tall form. Everything else went smooth after that. My party traveled to Oldale Town and found out through the locals about a river route named RT. 103. It traveled from this town to 110. Fortunately, traveling on water was no longer an issue.

After I obtained the Balance badge, I had been able to teach my Pokémon surf; Pelipper being the only one qualified to learn it. With this ability, she would be able to balance her buoyancy to where I could hold onto her without worry. A fitting pay back to all those times she used me as a seat. Thus in no time, we were off: Taking the total travel time of an hour and forty-five minutes to reach the land route of 110.

Eventually, we made our way back to Mauville once more and quickly passed by everything that would have presented itself as a temptation. The last thing I wanted to do is get into the city's glamour again. Plus, it might be the first place Sycamore would look.

The sun was high in the sky by the time I reached RT. 118. It started off as a lush, grassy hill with wildflowers scattered all around. Near the end of it had been golden sand that would be occasionally washed over by sea green waves. My nose was pleasantly tickled by the smell of the ocean. I figured that this would be the perfect spot to give Lappie a memorial.

With the help of everyone, we dug a hole, put his body (and head) inside, made a memorial service and buried him. I shed a few tears during the service before quickly wiping them away. When it was over, it was internally decided to resume my master quest.

Once everyone but Pelipper was inside the ball, the blue and white bird flew over to the water and sat on the service to wait. The next part of my path was just across the oceany stream; nothing left to do now but go forward.

 **...**

I arrived on the other side with little scruples...actually, there were alot of scruples. Call me an over-reactor, but it was a little bit surprising to find out that the route we were passing through was infested with sharpedos. Pelipper wasn't bothered by them. Whenever one got too close, she forced them away with a spray of water. Unfortunately, I couldn't say the same for me. Why? Maybe because I was JUST A PERSON!

When I noticed a sharpedo straying towards us, I would constantly call it to her attention and tried turning her head to make the bird see. At one point, she got fed up with my anxieties and threw me off. I was now wet and afraid.

"AAH! Pelipper, how could you?! I thought you loved me?!"

"Guuuah!"

"GOOD ARCEUS! One just touched my leg! MY LEG! I want back on!"

"GUUUAH! Guuah,"

"I'm gonna die! Death by neglect and sharpedos! I'm gonna come back and haunt you for the rest of your life-OOF!"

Suddenly, I got swept away by a wave and tumbled onto the cool, wet sand. Then, another wave crashed into me; pushing my small self further on the shore. When the realization of being safe registered, I rolled onto my back with breathing being heavy and the anxiety slowly coming down. I'm alive! I can be free to eat junk food for another day! Sure my clothes and hair were now soaking wet, but it was nothing that the hot Hoenn sun couldn't fix.

Pelipper waddled on the shore, and walked over to the strewn out body that made me up. She looked down on my face with an expression that was easily interpreted as annoyance. Hey, even Pokémon had their limits to how much patience they have. I let out an awkward laugh in hopes that she wouldn't be too mad with my previous agitations.

"We're uh...we're cool right?"

"..."

"...did I mention how fluffy you look today?"

My compliment did nothing to change the water bird's look on her face. She did what I usually do in return: REVEEEEEEENGE!

In seconds, Pelipper sprayed my face with water as a reprimand before digging into my belt, accessing her ball and putting herself inside. I sat up and rubbed my face to wipe away the excess water. Rightfully, any trainer would get upset from such a rebellious act. However, I was the one who wronged her. Instead of trusting that we would cross safely, doubt caused me to not only question her abilities as a strong pokémon, but my capabilities as a trainer! I should apologize to her when she calms down.

For now though, I got up from the sand to clean myself off and reach for the map that was still hard to translate no matter how hard I stared at it-"Miss Maaaay! Over here!" Good arceus; please tell me it's not who I think it is. Reluctantly, I turned my head to see a man no younger than his late twenties come running towards me. Dam, it is him. You may be wondering why I don't like him a whole lot. Well...

The young man caught up with me quickly; stopping to catch his breath for a second. When he was composed, that's when it started: The elegant flashiness. Got a hint yet?

"To think that I'd meet you out here in this place! How has your journey treated you? Did you find any interesting artifacts or Pokémon so far? Knowing you though, such things must always come your way!"

Figure it out now?

The young man with me took up my hand with his to plant a kiss on top of it. If anyone hasn't grasped at least a clue by now, then allow me to say it in the words of Brendan from a few months ago:

 _"Yeah, that guy reminds me of Professor Sycamore,"_

Ever since then, the comparison got stuck in my head and was cursed with the knowledge of how similar the two acted. I kinda felt guilty in the long run because he really wasn't that bad of a guy. Steven Stone overshadowed me by a few inches. His light steel blue spiked hair greatly differed from Sycamore's black wavy locks. The young man's matching colored light steel blue eyes were full of bright curiosity and energy rather than an ocean blue of hidden, dark agendas. He wore an onyx and midnight purple colored suit jacket with an equally midnight purple vest and onyx black pants. What gave a nice relief from that borderline goth palette scheme had been his scarlet neckerchief with a white collar. Pinned on the neckerchief was a small rainbow-colored stone.

And while Steven acted like Sycamore, it was out of GENUINE chivalry. No hidden glares or planned tricks; just an overall honest guy. Still, I couldn't help but be reminded of the professor.

Very quickly I pulled my hand back with despise to put both arms behind my back. "Not really. I just got the Balance badge and plan to get the sixth one soon," I replied rather blandly. Of course, stale responses never stopped Steven Stone. "Really Miss May? I'd have to extend my congratulations; though I think only getting a badge from Norman Maple would be too poor of a reward," he said in a joking tone. Yeah, that was something we could both agree on.

After that comment, my brain began thinking of ways of excusing myself from Steven's presence. Several feet behind him, there looked to be a jungle-like path I could tread on. "Hey, it was great seeing ya and all, but I gotta-AH!"

Suddenly, I was trapped. On the turn of a *péni, Steven's arms were on either side of me with my back against the rocky cliffs of the beach. His face was uncomfortably close and began to breath pretty heavy. What the hell?! Wasn't he acting (to a degree) normal just a second ago?! I knew nice-acting guys were too good to be true! I take back all the nice things I said about him!

The organ in my chest that pumped blood throughout my body began to beat faster. I could feel myself turn an uncomfortable shade of red while trying to figure a way out of his imprisonment. This is where things turned extra weird.

"Miss May...please don't move too much...I promise I'll be quick,"

"Be quick with what?! Get away from me!"

"Such an enchanting gem..."

"I'm warning you!"

"So very beautiful..."

"Are you even listening?! I said-AAH!"

My anxiety appropriately shot up to extreme levels as I tried to repel the advancing Steven. Unfortunately, he was waaaay too close for me to punch him in the stomach. In the end, there was nothing I could do but stare in horror as his arm came towards and passed right by me...

"...Aaaand there. Thought you could escape my eye, did you?"

All that nervousness I felt instantly vanished as my eyes focused back on the young man himself; holding a light pink gem between his fingers. While I was relieved that he wasn't being indecent towards me, it was still pretty strange to see someone so obsessed with rocks. He really creeped me out. I should get away from him as far as possible now.

"Uh, yeah...I'm gonna go; got to train for the next gym and all...so uh...bye,"

"But wait! There's so much more I wanted to talk with you about! Let me come along at least!"

"You shouldn't! It's uh...important that I train by myself!"

My insistency for being alone was failing as Steven kept trying to follow me. Seriously, he's really not getting the message. At least this day can't get any worse. But right as I thought those words, a large shadow suddenly loomed over the two of us. Of course, we immediately took action and quickly broke into a run. Although I ran fast (from practicing for obvious reasons), Steven had been more swift on his feet and managed to take ahold of my hand before dragging me with him. Fortunately, the beach had many places for us to hide; many rock formations jutted out from the sandy shore. We jumped behind one without any hesitation.

Once we felt secure enough, I grabbed Metang's ball and readied myself. A quick glance to my side revealed my temporary party member rummaging through his bag, but for what? An interesting question to ask, but there were bigger problems on our hands; like that thing we were hiding from. Cautiously, I poked my head out before scanning the area and saw that it was clear.

"Okay, we're good. It was probably a trainer and their Pokémon or something,"

"Um, I don't quite think so,"

Before I could why, something started rubbing against my back. The action freaked me out and my fist was already clenched tightly to punch (probably Steven) whoever was behind me. When I turned around however, my face was suddenly being nuzzled against by a large creature. Its soft, fuzzy head instantly pacified my violence through rubbing it on my cheek. My body fell back on the rock and I now saw the thing that was messing with me.

It was a creature that had the height and weight of both of us combined. The Pokémon was a cream color that co-dominated with a scarlet red along with a robin blue triangle on its chest. Another prominent feature to capture my attention were the strange arm it had and long, stiff wings. The Pokémon pulled back for a second to give me a once over with curious, golden eyes.

...CATCH IT!CATCH IT!CATCH IT!CATCH IT!

Already a pokeball was in my hand and locked onto the creature with intent to capture it. The second my arm was raised however, Steven quickly seized my limb. "Wait, Miss May! Please hold on for just a moment; we can't just capture it!

"Uh, why not?"

"Because, it may be trying to tell us something. Think about it: A Pokémon usually tries to hide from people to avoid getting caught, yet this one came to us. Why do you think that is?"

"Seriously? That's stupid. Why doesn't it go find the police or something?"

"Maybe...we're the only convenient people around; or maybe...we might be the only humans who are pure of heart! There can't be any other explanation!"

Yeah, I was gonna go for the former. There wasn't a doubt in my mind about Steven stone being blameless; weird, but blameless. As far as I knew, he was the cleanest guy on the planet. Me on the other hand, not so much. A few of my crimes during childhood of breaking things disqualified me from achieving such a level. But even if that wasn't the case, that jerk professor of mine stole my never-to-be-used first kiss and corrupted my thoughts with his imaginary presence. I was plenty far away from that schemer now. Maybe I should humor Steven a bit and hopefully forget about Sycamore enough to finish my journey.

"Uh...I guess. What does it want anyway? If it wanted to find people, then it's probably something bad,"

"You're right; dear majestic creature of the sky, we beseech you: Why have you come in search for us?"

The Pokémon in question stared at us for a moment as if it was almost unsure it made a bad decision in choosing us. But then it gave out a soft coo and lowered its body. Please tell me it's not doing what I think it's doing. Unfortunately, the excited gasp that came from my party member confirmed what I was dreading. "Miss May! This Pokémon! It wants us to get on its back! It may be taking us on an important quest! We have to go!" Steven said excitedly as he gracefully ran over to the Pokémon and hopped on.

While he was completely on board with the decision, I wasn't. There were so many things wrong with this picture: Namely, the possible scenario of it dropping us in midflight. It might even belong to another trainer who could turn out to be a robber. My hesitation must have been easily written on my face, because Steven said:

"There's nothing to fear Miss May. I'll be sure to protect you if trouble comes our way!"

Ugh, the way he sounded tempted me to gag. Still, I made no effort to move. Steven himself was unsure now of what to say since his words did little to sway me. His shoulders sagged with a disappointed look on his face. "I see: The uncertainty is too great for any assurance. I completely understand; although it is admittingly upsetting. Even the one in distress can't help but look *crestfallen about the lack of assistance-"

"Alright, already! Shut up and make room! I'm getting on!"

His tactic of guilt-tripping worked like a charm as I gave in and went over to the two. When I was about to, he on behind Steven, he suddenly interrupted me. "Actually, I recommend to sit in the front. You can get a better grip on its neck and not fall off so easily,"

Hm, that did make more sense. Instantly, I followed Steven's suggestion and sat in front to wrap my arms around the Pokémon's neck. Thankfully, it didn't become uncomfortable and try to throw me off. Okay, we were ready for lift o-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!

In a flash, the creature flew into the air and rocketed through the empty space towards our destination. The force of the wind came straight at my face and was swearing every second that my head would be torn off. Did this Pokémon think that people were just as sturdy as them?! Good arceus, that's what it felt like! My arms gripped fiercely to its neck, but it felt like I was sliding back. There was some sort of pressure on my hips, but I was too scared to open my eyes to look back and check. The heart-stopping terror was endured for several more minutes before coming into an abrupt halt.

By this time, Steven and I were shaking violently from the experience. Slowly, I managed to open my eyes to see us hovering over an island. It was small in size that was surrounded by endless ocean. Thank arceus, land!

The strange Pokémon lowered us in a surprisingly slow manner to where we could slide off like butter. Fortunately, the two of us landed on soft, lush grass that generously blanketed the ground. We laid on it for several minutes before I realized that Steven's hands were firmly attached to my waist. Naturally, I reacted by spastically slapping them away shortly before rolling flat on my face. Ugh, my limbs feel like noodles; all I wanna do now is just lay here forever.

Unfortunately, the Pokémon wasn't going to let me do that. Insistently, I began to nudge at my sides with no mercy. You stupid thing: Don't you know how miserable I feel right now?! It's your fault I'm like this in the first place! Eventually, my body recovered enough for me to push its head away and sit up. My face was fixed into a tired frown.

"...I'm taking Pelipper back to the mainland when this is all over,"

"Miss May, I'm sure that it meant no harm. It must not be around humans enough to know what they're like,"

I turned my head to Steven already on his feet; although he was still trembling while dusting himself off. Seeing as how the man was giving off a friendlier disposition, the Pokémon left me and hovered over to him. He let graced it with a charming smile and petted its head. It only stared back at him with an unsure expression of how to respond to his affection. Meanwhile, I showed a sneer while forcing myself up to stand. Yeah, I was grumpy, but who wouldn't be after something like that?!

"Okay, we're here. So now what?" I asked with sights directed at the Pokémon upon hearing my tone, Steven's petting was interrupted when the creature turned its head to look at me. It gave out a soft coo and gestured its body to follow. Finally, time to get down to business. It hovered quietly into the island with Steven and I in tow.

Coming to the conclusion from the intense humid climate, I figured that we were about not too far off south from the mainland of the Hoenn region; and so I rightfully dubbed it 'Southern Island'. Either that, or 'The island from hell'; take your pick. And while there were no traces of human civilization around, I wasn't the least bit bothered by it. Just like the route from the house to Petalburg, there was this serene peace in the air as large leaved trees spread their generous branches towards the vivid blue sky. Scattered sounds of bug Pokémon filled my ears as if summer was at its ripest. Light green grass softly crunched under my feet yielded many wildflowers that were certainly tempting to pick. When our party passed a clearing, we would be able to see enormous, roaring waterfalls that cascaded into busy streams and traveled to the vast ocean. It was all very interesting things to see, but Steven also found a few things that piqued his interest.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him break off a dark blue-colored gem from a rock that we passed by. He went back by my side as if he was a little kid who found the coolest thing on the planet. His eyes glittered excitedly.

"Look at this! It has such a marvelous shape! Even the color of the gem is so rich!"

"Um, okay...what is it?"

"You mean you don't know what this is?!"

"Not really,"

Steven suddenly gave me a look as if I was locked in a loony bin, rolling around with a straight-jacks on. Yeah, like he has any right to do that. "Miss May! This gorgeous thing is known in the gem world as a Lapis Lazuli. While it's a beautiful stone, one can't help but notice how sad it looks. As if it has been through so much hardship,"

"Steven...you know it's just a rock right?"

"Just a rock?! For shame, Miss May! Everything has a story; who they are, where they came from and what they've experienced. I shouldn't be so hard on you, but as a blossoming trainer, you must learn to not form such narrow conclusions. Otherwise, your journey will be harder than you expect,"

Hm, it really felt like he was blowing it out of proportion. I mean, it's a rock. Now if it was a rock-type, then that's a different story. Sides, like this guy can ever be hard on me. Nobody can beat dad in that department.

 _"...DOOOOOOOODGE!"_

Still, I agreed with him for the sake of him not giving me any more of those speeches. The small apology was enough to brighten his face and prompted him to fish in the bag he carried with him. A few minutes of rummaging around brought up three more gemstones in his hands. One was a brownish-red color, another had been a dark purple, while the third was clearly a pearl. Oh great, more non-Pokémon rock talk.

"Take these three for example. I found this stoic Garnet around the boiling lakes of lava in Mt. Chimney. Not an easy feat for sure. And Amethyst here, I happened to stumble across this beauty in Reflection Cave. Took me a few hours to break her off a boulder. Pearl was the easiest of the three. I found her on the shores of Vermilion City. Then there's -"STEVEN!"

I suddenly yanked him back by his fancy suit and pulled him into some nearby bushes as the odd Pokémon with us quickly went up into a tree to take refuge in the leaves. Before Steven could try to utter anything, I clapped my hand on his mouth to silence him. The timing couldn't have been more close (or better for that matter), as the sound of footsteps were starting to ring in our ears. It wasn't in so much of a mess; but sounded organized I unison. If I learned anything during my travels, it's that those steps belonged to a marching band! Is that what the danger was? A marching band? Did the Pokémon have a traumatizing fear of marching bands and wanted us to get rid of them? That's so dumb!

My head poked out; getting ready to jump out and confront them. The second my gaze focused on where the noise had been however, my eyes widened with surprise and shot back down. By this time, Steven was free from my hold and spoke in a quiet voice.

"What is it, Miss May? What did you see?"

"...Not a marching band...definitely not a marching band..."

Confused by the statement, he decided to look for himself. Cautiously, Steven peered through the leaves to see five Team Magma grunts marching ahead to where we were supposed to go. He turned to me with a serious look on his face. "Team Magma; I should have guessed that those criminals would be the reason that beautiful Pokémon requested our aid. What evils are they trying to commit here? Miss May, we must stop them before they cause any atrocities!"

My already shocked face turned a sick green from hearing what the young man was suggesting. "I don't think that's such a good idea,"

"Why not? It is clear that we are not here by coincidence, but fate. Not many people stand up to villains like them anymore. We as trainers, have an obligation fight for those who can't fight for themselves,"

"Why don't we call the police? I mean, they handle stuff like this. I don't think its a good idea to tangle ourselves up with thugs,"

From previous accounts, one could tell that I'm not even the slightest bit afraid of those nerds. But I was more afraid of my dad; angry at him or not. The promise I made to him held me back from so much as giving those losers a dirty look. I didn't feel inclined to go back on it. You know how moms sorta have this strange intuition that lets them virtually know what their kid is doing all hours of the day? My dad has something like that times ten. It was like whenever I did something wrong, and when he caught even the slightest wind of it, did I feel his imaginary gaze of disapproval burning the back of my neck.

Steven sighed with disappointment, but didn't try guilt-tripping me this time. "I see...I can understand the fear of doing the right thing; the path is uncertain and always full of danger. But by no means am I calling you a coward. Leave this to me, Miss May,"

He then jumped out of the bushes to make himself known to everybody and their mother. The way he did it was so flashy and embarrassing; I'm glad I stayed where I was.

"Stop right there, Team Magma! My name is Steven Stone and I'm here to save the day from the influences of your evil. And if you don't think I can, then be warned: I'll always find a way!"

Yep, I'm pretty dam glad he show-boated that alone. His catch phrases were so corny.

The five grunts stared at him, then at each other before taking out their pokeballs and sending out their Pokémon. Two of them were numels while one was a poochyena and the other two had been zubats. With an exaggerated flair, Steven gracefully took out his ball and threw it. "Go skarmory! Show them the might of steel!" He declared while holding out his hand. The ball opened up to reveal a bird that was entirely encased in metal. Its surface was shiny and reflected everything like a polished mirror. In the underside of its wings, it looked like...red razor blades. Okay, that was pretty cool. It's probably just the feathers, but you can't sit there and tell me that razor blade feathers don't sound awesome. Its mustard-colored eyes surveyed the five threats before it while standing at five feet and seven inches.

"Skarmory, attack with all your heart and soul! The fate of the innocent hang in the balance!"

Prompted or not from the cheesy line, the bird let out a shrieking cry and spread its long wings. In an instant, skarmory flew towards its opponents all the other Pokémon against it charged toward to meet each other. Unfortunately for them, it struck first.

Stretching out curved, sharp talons, it slashed one zubat coming at it with open fangs. The poison-type took the hit and flew back in shock. At the same time, the poochyena latched on to skarmory's leg with its maw. Seeing as how it was made of steel, Steven's battle partner wasn't very affected. Skarmory kinda waddled a little from the small weight. It pretty much looked like a scene of an annoyed adult trying to bring troubling kids under control. But that quickly changed when the zubat returned for another attack.

This time, it let out a screeching wave that shot point blank into the steel-type's face. Uh-oh, that wasn't good. Steven instantly picked up on the new danger and quickly began to dig in his bag. The two numels who were previously standing by, now went into battle. Immediately, they shot out short sparks of flame that struck its shiny surface. Since the poor bird was made out of metal, their fire-based assaults really did a number on it.

"Hold on skarmory!"

In the safety of the bushes, I could hear the anxiety in Steven's voice. Okay, it's fine. Probably just a minor setback. I'm sure I don't need to get involved.

Meanwhile, skarmory was horribly confused by the supersonic waves that zubat screamed in its ears. While the poochyena had been a minor irritant, the numels were proving otherwise. They kept on pelting the fire until their foe got wobbly. Skarmory was about to get its bearings back, but at too little, too late. This was bad! At this rate, it was gonna lose! What kind of trainer was he anyway?! His Pokémon were incredibly weak! I can't believe he was so soft!

My eyes squeezed tightly shut in a vain attempt to block out the battle. Dad demanded me to not get involved with them again; he said there would be consequences if I disobeyed him! I shouldn't have trusted Steven to let him drag me here! This was all HIS fault!

After many beatings, the skarmory gave out a weak cry and collapsed to the ground. Evidently, five against one wasn't a kind of battle it had been trained for. Steven tried to run towards his injured friend, but was stopped as he tripped over one of the grunt's foot from purposely sticking it out. Two of then seized him by the arms and began to tie him up. Already, I could here Steven's grunts and struggles fill my ears. AUGH! Fine! I'll fucking do it!

"GO METANG!"

In an instant, the hovering metal being was summoned and flew into view with me leaping out of my cover. Steven's eyes suddenly got starry-eyed while the grunts were startled by my entrance. I'm so sorry dad, I hope you'll forgive me eventually!

"Alright Magma dorks, put down the fancy nerd! My name's May Maple and I'm gonna beat the shit outta ya!"

My Metang hummed in agreement as it built up its esp energy. Of course, the five only stared at me with mocking expressions and arrogant laughs. Clearly they only thought of me as a meddling kid. Still, they concluded that I needed to be disposed of, and two of them barked a command. The poochyena who was still holding fast on the fainted skarmory unlatched itself and started running towards the both of us. If metang could talk, it would have let out a laugh instead. That little dark-type was nothing compared to what it faced! "Alright Metang, use your confusion!" I commanded while pointing towards its targets. The metal being put its stubbed hands together to create a bright purple wave of energy. It quickly overwhelmed the small dog and forced it off land. Luckily for the pooch, it landed in a tree.

Now realizing that the two of us were a bigger threat, the other four Team Magma members turned their Pokémon's attention attention on us. Obviously the chubby numels were gonna be a problem, but taking out the zubats would be like hitting a whiffle ball with a bat...a really strong metal bat. Metang must have read my thoughts, because as soon as the zubats got close enough, the steel/esper-type swung its mighty arm and let it crash into both of their bodies. And just like those small balls, they sailed up high in the air until just bright, brief twinkles in the sky indicated their departure from the battle.

Metang didn't use any time to stare back at them, but shifted its sight to the biggest threats of the group, the numels. It immediately went straight for them. The two fire/ground-types reacted swiftly by launching hot embers. Several of them hit my battle partner, but it swatted the rest away with a wave of esp energy. No doubt the fire hurt, but Metang rolled with the punches (so to speak) and lunged for its foes.

To its left, the metal being thrusted out its head; smacking the numel fiercely in its skull. The camel-like creature let out a pained grunt from its massive injury and fell on its side. Very quickly, Metang swiped out another wave of visible energy at the second enemy. Unfortunately for it, the creature was too slow to move out of the way; paying for the lack of speed with a blow to its entire body. It flipped in the air like a doll before landing in a fainted thud on the ground.

My Pokémon sound out a hum of triumph while holding out its arms in victory. The grunts that tied up Steven had a look of dreaded surprise on their faces. They quickly called back their remaining Pokémon and fled before I could act on beating them and take their wallets. Megan went over to the injured skarmory while I scurried over to my human companion.

"Steven, are you okay-"

"Oh my goodness! You were so magnificent! Your battling was certainly breath-taking! And your Pokémon! It was so...so amazing a-and beautiful!"

Steven was suddenly upon Metang and Skarmory like a kid at a petting zoo. The injured bird blinked and shook its head bitterly. It either did that because of the loss it sustained...or was embarrassed by his partner's odd shift in behavior. The strange Pokémon hiding in the tree finally came down just in time to see a very weird scene unfold.

At first, it seemed innocent enough; Steven inching closer to my Metang for a closer look. Then his face became flushed and started touching its shiny surface. "Miss May! This Metang is so...so very beautiful!" He said excitedly while continuing his now obvious harassment on my steel/esper-type. Metang began to feel awkward and quickly hovered over to me for security. For a moment when Steven turned his head, he looked like a hungry predator ready to attack any obstacle that was in the way of his desire (namely me). Fortunately, he snapped back from...whatever he was in upon seeing Metang nuzzling me while letting out frightening hums. Steven straightened his clothes and cleared his throat.

"*Ahem* Forgive me. I got...caught up in the moment. Let's continue shall we?"

"Uh...yeah,"

 **...**

Currently, the party consisted of that odd Pokémon, Steven Stone, Metang and myself. Skarmory preferred to be sent back in its ball to rest up as much as possible. There were a few more times where we did encounter more Team Magma grunts, but not as dramatic as five at once. Each time however, the odd creature went straight into hiding. We didn't mind that though, because anything could happen during battles. A good alternative for protection if you couldn't defend yourself. After each battle, it would come back down to resume traveling with us while being at Steven's side. However, after the last one, things to took a turn for the weirder.

"Beautiful Pokémon of pure-heartedness; are you alright?! The battle is over and we've emerged victorious! You can come down!"

"Steven, you don't have to say all that. Hey Pokémon! Time's a wastin'! You want us to help you or what?!"

The leaves of the tree she took refuge in shook from its movement; some of the leaves falling gently to the ground. Suddenly, a figure abruptly fell from the tree and landed into the bushes. What the hell? Steven looked just as confused as I did. Together, we both investigated the strange event by moving towards the vegetation. When the two of us got closer, Steven and I did what any logical person would do: Stick our faces close to the foreign thing. What came next was truly terrifying.

Out of the bushes, a head poked out; a head that looked exactly like mine. "AAAH! DEMON!" I fell over in heart-stopping shock. Steven on the other hand looked more astounded.

"Oh! So you even have the power to shift-shape? No wonder you need our help,"

Meanwhile, my heart felt like it shot out of my chest from the disturbing likeness; even more so when the Pokémon's mimicked state came into full view. From the top of...'her' head to the soles of 'her' shoes, that Pokémon copied my exact image with one disgusting difference.

"Just look at her! She's so cute! So you're a girl, huh? I should have picked that right away! Miss May! Are you seeing this? I didn't know you can make shy faces like that!"

"YES STEVEN! I see her RUINING my hardcore reputation! Hey pokémon, stop doing that! If you're gonna look like me, then you better stop making those faces. And I better not get anymore unwanted attention because of you either!"

The confused creature only at us with a blank expression that STILL made it look too dam adorable. When no attempt to fix it was made, I stomped over there and roughly grabbed her cheeks. No sound came out of it while I squeezed them like the tormentor I was, but it made those painful, terrified expressions. "Miss May, please! I'm sure that this beautiful pokémon of pure-heartedness means no harm! In fact, it might be a better idea if she stayed this way anyhow; like a twin sister look-alike," he reasoned while pulling the Pokémon away from my grasp to take up an arm.

"I don't want one of those,"

"Come on, what's not to like? Just look at her cute, innocent face!"

She immediately peeked her head out from Steven's shoulder to look at me with teary eyes. ERH; I was gonna hurl. Steven smiled warmly at her. "I'm quite sorry for my companion's behavior, Miss May has a hard time admitting how adorable she is. Maybe it's because her boyfriend doesn't tell her that enough,"

"BOYFRIEND?! I don't have or need any of those!"

"What about that young man you were with? Surely you two are 'going steady'?"

"BRENDAN'S MY FRIEND! JUST A FRIEND!"

"Oh, is that so? Well then, let's be off!"

My face was burning a cherry red and pressed into a scowl. Unbothered by my anger, Steven walked ahead of Metang and I with the pokémon clinging strangely to his limb. I narrowed my eyes in realization that they looked like a romantic couple; exactly how the movies I watched portrayed. Stupid pokémon! Didn't it see enough human girls to turn into one that wasn't me?! And Steven: Going along with it like it's funny or something!

Very quickly, I grabbed my battle partner by the arm and dragged him along to catch up.

 **...**

The sun was an hour away from setting and the four of us were still walking. I was bitter at the moment while latching on to Metang's metal body. The steel/esper-type didn't mind it though; it gave out affectionate hums while nuzzling back. Steven and that strange Pokémon (who turned into me) were having a great time. He went on about his rock collection while she silently listened. Whenever he said something that piqued her interest, the Pokémon's eyes that imitated mine would sparkle. Even more so, she would make those cute, girlish smiles or vulnerable-looking faces. Meanwhile, mine consisted of displeased frowns and hard pressed brows of annoyance. What really bothered me though, was how close they were to each other. From the time the Pokémon stuck onto him til now, she had pressed her side against his. If that wasn't bad enough, the next part was worse.

Suddenly, the two stopped and the young man pulled out his phone. "Miss May, could you come here for a moment?" He asked. I was a little puzzled, but went towards him. When I got close enough, he dropped the phone in my hands. "Could you take a picture of us?"

"What?! No way!"

"Why not?"

"It looks exactly like me! What if someone sees it?! That could ruin me!"

"Come now, this is a rare opportunity! Besides, I have a lock on my phone; not anybody can just unlock it. I'll make sure they stay a secret from prying eyes,"

Oh suuuuure! You say it like you know the future or something! Who knows what could happen between then and now-"Hey, stop that!"

In the middle of making a very obvious decision, the shape-shifting Pokémon started to blankly stare at me. The now vivid blue of its irises imitated the feeling of making me uncomfortable. Steven was unaffected due to her gaze being concentrated on me. Meanwhile, the creepiness was beginning to be too much to take and I moved my head to the side. She did the same. I moved my head to the other side; she followed the movement. This time, I held up Metang up to my face. Not only could I still feel the awkward stare, but so could my Pokémon since it was held up in front. Finally, I gave in.

"ALRIGHT! I'll take the dam picture,"

"You will? I knew you'd come through!"

"But nobody better see this! If there's so much as a peek that's not coming from you, I'll hunt you down!"

"Of course! It's only fair,"

With audible grumbles originally intended for myself, I pointed the back of the phone at the two. They only had moments before my thumb hit the camera icon. It snapped a picture of Steven smiling vividly with the doppelganger of myself staring at him with a curious face. I wanted to be done with the affair, but the human travel companion insisted for at least two more pictures.

The second one had been the pokémon pushing Steven's cheeks together for some estranged enjoyment. The third (Being the most disturbing) was Steven giving the she creature a kiss on the cheek. She turned a cherry color like I would. There was no way I was gonna keep quiet about it.

"HEY! What the hell man?!"

"Sorry, sorry...I couldn't help but want to see what you look like when you're bashful; it's a pretty tempting opportunity considering the situation,"

"I'm gonna be tempted to beat you with a metal bat the next time you do that!"

"But of course! I wouldn't dare to continuously invoke your wrath. Do you not agree, beautiful pokémon of pureheartedness?"

The both of us turned our heads to wait for the estranged being to give us a response. However it's attention had suddenly been absorbed by something else. Her whole body shifted to meet the direction where the cause of the disturbance was. It was a good thing she could pick it up, because Steven and I couldn't.

Just as we were about to ask, the disguised creature grabbed Steven's arm and pulled him towards the source of discomfort; a large tunnel being the gateway to it. Once again, Metang and I chased after them.

 **...**

As the four of us walked through this darkened tunnel, I could feel the cool breeze relieve us of the heat we endured outside. The cool drips of water was all that previously broke the silence along with our footsteps until we neared the end of the route. It started off faint, but we were beginning to hear the sounds of angry cooing fill our ears. It sounded just like hers! Did she have family here too?! She could have tried to say (maybe gesture) something about that sooner! Although, I also faintly made out noises of human speech mixed in. Looks like I gotta break my promise again. Eventually my party reached the end of the eerie tunnel where the light revealed an unsettling scene.

It was a treeless space that was blanketed with many colorful flora on the ground. Around it, was a busy river that acted like a defensive moat. The natural creation was fueled by many large waterfalls spilling it's clear, refreshing water into it. In the middle was a silver column with a dish seated on top. The contents of that dish held a sky blue orb that was as big as a baseball. Unfortunately, that's not all we saw.

The sacred-looking space was invaded by a handful of Team Magma grunts. We recognized all but one from earlier.

This person was a woman who looked as old as Tabitha. Her lavender-colored hair was short and curled inwardly to hug her head. Her eyes that also had the same hue reflected a blank, empty expression. Thankfully, the outfit she wore helped offset the creepiness.

At first glance, it was mistaken for standard grunt garments. A double take however, revealed the horns stitched on her open hoodie were taller and yellow. The outfit in its entirety would have looked more like a business suit if it hadn't been same color and fabric as the rest of the organization's uniforms.

While the grunts were bustling around, she just stood there doing absolutely nothing but looking down on the ground. Although it was an odd behavior, I instantly picked up on what this woman was really up to. A few times, I caught Professor Sycamore with that same stare. She had been off in her own little world thinking up of only arceus knows what. Essentially a disturbing realization that she might be one of those cruel, introverting types.

Next to the woman was a heavy cage with a pokémon trapped inside. I nearly gasped upon realizing that it looked nearly the same as the other pokémon who was with us; though it had some obvious differences.

One of them being a robin blue color with a crimson triangle on its chest. Also, unlike our party member, this one outsized her by a foot and glared angrily at its captors with a scarlet red gaze. Now I could definitely relate to a pokémon like him! I hope it's a him. "This situation looks grim indeed," said Steven in a careful whisper while hiding in the darkness of the tunnel's mouth. The pokémon that mimicked me nodded in agreement. "We must think of a way to chase them off-"

"Maple style! Dramatically violent entrance PUUUUUUUUNCH!"

Without even trying to listen, I busted into view and hit the grunt closest to me. The unlucky minion's face connected to my fist and fell to the ground from the force of my power. It was certainly attention worthy, for immediately everyone stopped what they were doing and pointed their gazes towards me. Even the dazed woman boredly casted a glance to see what was amiss. Sweet! Now to say my awesome line.

"Alright Magma nerds! Prepared to get Maple'd in the name of justice!"

There was only silence as a reply, and I could have sworn that my ears picked up the sound of a hand slapping a forehead behind me. Hmmm, this wasn't really how I thought it would go. A good thirty seconds passed before I got any kind of reaction. It came from one of the grunts.

"M-mistress Courtney! It's that girl! She's the one who stopped us from getting the Devon parts!"

"That's right! And if you know what's good for ya, you'll-"

"And she's the one who kept us from taking the ship parts in Slateport!"

"Yeah...now that everyone knows I'm awesome, you all can-"

"Hey you stupid brat! I want my wallet back! My membership card to The Lilycove City department store was in the-"

"SHUT UP!"

Out of annoyance, I took off one of my shoes and threw it at the complaining grunt. The footwear hit the young adult smack dab in the middle of his features. Naturally, he got knocked unconscious.

Now that the interruption was quelled, I was free to speak. "Okay Magma losers, here's what's gonna happen: You're all gonna give yourselves up to the cops after I haul each and every one of you back on land! But not before I take all of your wallets!"

Of course, nobody who breaks the law for a living would agree to any condition like that. Even more so if it's coming from a teenager. But nobody stepped forward to challenge me either. Hah! What a bunch of losers! Assured of my victory, I turned to the direction of Steven and the doppelganger.

"See guys? This was a piece of cake. And you guys wanted to waste time forming a plan,"

"I like chocolate...because it's delicious,"

Woah! What the actual fuck?!

My heart nearly jolted out of its bone cavity that made up my ribcage when a whispering, eerie voice spoke into my ear like it was a secret. As quickly as possible, I spun around to find the woman creeepily standing only inches from my face. Her unfeeling sight locked onto me as if I was an uninteresting, bland object, but couldn't tear her eyes away for the sake of odd curiousity.

Her thickly gloved hand grabbed my shirt, but another force suddenly tore me from her grip. It pulled me back to where Metang was; the obvious cause of my rescue. The metal being let out an angry hum to prepare itself.

Courtney just stood there in that stone daze with her hand now clutching the air. A few seconds passed before she finally retracted her arm; although she now turned her palm to look at it. "...your shirt..." Courtney said while putting her eyes back on me. This was just like that pokémon who was with us, only much more unsettling.

"..."

"...okay, what about it?"

"..."

"Uh, I'm gonna kick your ass now,"

" ..."

At the very least, the young woman was able to comprehend what I declared, because she reached for her belt and grabbed her pokéball. A grunt came beside her with his ball already drawn. I was annoyed that he suddenly jumped in the fight, but they were thugs; cheating was to be expected. It didn't matter anyway: they could cheat all they want, but I'm the one who's gonna win every time.

Although I was okay with going it alone, fate had other plans. "Just a moment if you will!" said a voice that had me mildly surprised. Steven was already at my side before I had time to turn around. His flashy mode activated and now held skarmory's ball in front of him. "I refuse to let a lady fight unaided! It's simply...not my style," he announced with the swish of his hair. I am literally always in the company of very strange people. His entrance hadn't gone unnoticed by every else either. Some of the grunts began to whisper amongst each other. My ears caught words like 'very familiar', 'contest star?' and 'overly stylish'.

No matter how fashionably dressed my companion had been through, they weren't gonna go easy on us. In fact, no sooner had the commotion died down, the grunt by Courtney threw his ball and let out a koffing; how original. Were koffings some sort of thing going on? I don't get it. The admin however, summoned an angry-looking camerupt. It had only been seconds since it was let out, and already it stomped its legs with fury; the volcanoes it carried had thick smoke billowing from its top. I could swear that lava was threatening to pour out at any second.

Time to battle.

"Come on Metang! Show them why Team Maple is the best!" I shouted with a fist pumped high in the air. My battle partner let out a mighty hum and hovered forward to face our enemies. Steven Stone threw his spherical device with elegance while was outstretched in the air. "Go skarmory! Let the gracefulness of our power be unleashed!" he exclaimed as a determined look shadowed his face.

Once again, the fearless metal bird made his proud entrance and landed next to my pokémon. It looked at Steven's bird, but only briefly before switching its baze back to our foes.

"...Metang, let's do this!"

It didn't wait for me to give any orders; the steel/esper-type picked the most dangerous target of the two and slammed its heavy forehead against the skull of the camerupt. Quite obviously, Metang's assault caused a raging retaliation. Courtney's fire/ground-type erupted the two volcanoes it had growing on its back; spewing the lava into the air and landing everywhere. Everyone quickly jumped back to avoid touching the molten substance. Flowers and grass burned instantly to reveal bare earth upon impact. Some even landed on the koffing; causing the toxic gas to ignite and explode. Both Steven and I fell back with unexpected force.

Several moments passed when I recovered enough from the fall to stand on my feet. But it was also that same moment I realized how much of an unpredictable enemy we were dealing with. An enemy who couldn't even hold the capacity to care about their allies! In the darkest corners of my head, I had been reminded of another group of people who adopted such a lack of empathy.

Dust eventually settled enough for everyone to see the grunt's koffing on the ground in defeat with skarmory standing in a wary position. But that was the least of my worries when we also took in the sight of Metang holding its arms out like a shield. Its appendages dripped with the hot substance; which caused them to glow brightly. If there had been that escaped me, it was type match-ups. Steel was 100% weak against fire! Why do I forget important things like that?! My eyes stole a glance at Steven. He looked angry, but I suspect for the same reasons as mine. What's worse for him is that he only had one pokémon. Despite the terrible luck, he remained adamant about continuing.

"Skarmory! It may be a fire-type, but it's also part ground! Don't get discouraged! Use your steel wings!"

The bird gave out a metallic cry and flew at the foe. skarmory's wings glowed brightly with each inch growing closer to its target. But in a split second, the camerupt turned it's great head and bit down on skarmory's wing. Steven nearly exclaimed his heart-stopping surpise; he was sure skarmory wouldn't have failed.

Sadly, we could only watch as smoke started rising from the small volcanoes again. They billowed and bubbled more fiercely with a barely hidden intent to make it hot enough to melt it. More worse was seeing Team Magma grunts slowly begin surrounding us. I had plenty of pokémon left, but they were trying to ensure the possibility of never seeing me use them. I saw the poor blue creature still trapped in the cage. We utterly failed! Hopefully, the other one could at least have some sense to escape before it was too late!

On top of camerupt's back, it's dangerous humps began to leak lava and rumble. As we expected the worst, Metang decided to act first. In a bold act, it swiftly hovered into the air and abruptly plugged camerupt's humps using its own arms. Everyone (including me) was surprised by this borderline idiotic attempt. Somehow though, it did the trick. Courtney's pokémon became irritated by the blockage. The beast tried moving around to shake it loose, but Metang continues to painfully keep its hold. While my pokémon had no facial expressions, it still has its way of outwardly showing how much it hurt.

"Camerupt...get rid of it,"

The cruel admin's voice didn't ring out loudly like mine, but it was still sharp and precise akin to Kalos' reeeeeeeeally old death creation: The guillotine. Her eyes surveyed me in a robotic fashion; looking as if she was going to attack us herself at the drop of a hat. Given how her pokémon functioned, I wouldn't be shocked if that were to happen.

Upon command, her pokémon starts giving out frustrated grunting sounds. In the midst of it's concentration however, Skarmory was able to set itself free. Scorching steam shot out of the strange camel's back. An even harsher rumbling caused people to stand back until they ran out of space.

And then...BLAM!

Two fiery streams of melted rock bursted out from it's back like a champagne from a bottle. It rose high into the sky along with my unfortunate pokémon who was launched because of it. In just mere moments, there was only a twinkle left above to indicate my friend's departure.

"METANG!" I screamed with shock; nerves shot up along with my heart rate and blood pressure. Steven too couldn't believe what he just witnessed. My Metang! What did I just sentence him to?! It was a brave act, but I couldn't help but place the blame on me. If Pelipper had been in battle, then things would have been much different!

Tears stung my eyes, and if it wasn't for a Team Magma grunt suddenly tackling me to the ground, then I would have undoubtedly cried. Steven jumped back to avoid my fate; though now had to be mindful of his surroundings every passing second. Skarmory went in for another attack, but one kick of the camerupt's mighty foot hurtled it back to knock against the captured pokémon's cage. Steven glared at the battle with angry defeat. But what came next marked another horrifying experience of my life.

"The girl...hold her in front of the camerupt,"

At first, nobody comprehended what the admin said. I mean, we honestly all thought something cliché like 'tie up the prisoner'. But when the words finally sunk in, not even her grunts could believe what she was suggesting. No one dared to move so much as an inch. The guy who tackled me instantly regretted his decision because he was now tasked with a morbid chore. "You..." she stated evenly with her eyes staring intensely at us.

"Put her...in front of the camerupt,"

"B-but Courtney! The great leader Maxie-"

"The Great Leader Maxie is not here...and this girl...she has disrupted his plans for the last time. Now..."

Courtney bent down to yank me up by the short part of my hair. Not being used to this kind of pain, I was forced to stand lest she try to behead me through physical strength. Steven tried to interfere, but a step in the wrong place got himself seized by the grunts closest to him.

Meanwhile, the cruel woman dragged me closer towards her terrifying beast; lava carelessly dripping down its back and dripping on the now naked earth. "Please turn extra crispy..." she requested in a polite, empty voice. Yeah right! Like there was any choice in the matter! I hafta do something before this creepy psychopath kills me-"HYUUUUUUUHN!"

Huh?

A familiar sound caused my head to look up skyward; followed by everyone else. Suddenly, a bright twinkle flashes in the atmosphere before taking form of a circular sentient being of metal with two arms. It's Metang! He is okay! I'm so...actually it was coming in pretty fast. Maybe now would be a great time to move out of the way.

Maxie's henchwoman seemed to think so too, because she quickly abandoned the plot for prioritizing her safety. I swiftly followed suit in a different direction just as camerupt got slammed by several tons of metal.

Everything shook with piles of earth being kicked up; giving all of the witnesses a healthy coating of fresh dirt.

It all fell silent then; silent and on edge. When the battlefield was finally clear, the current occupiers of the area gazes upon the mottled chunks that once made the ground flat. Of course, there had been something much more significant to capture our attention.

Sitting smack dab in the middle was a felled camerupt. Its volcanic humps were cracked and breaking off. On top of the creature was Metang. My battle partner gave out a shout to get my attention and shortly waved. Without thinking, I ran towards it with relieved tears welling up on my dirty face. The two of us met up with each other, and I threw glad arms around my friend.

My cheeks rubbed harshly against Metang's shiny metal surface; smearing dirt on it. But when I was ready to let go, something happened.

Metang gave out a cry, started to glow brightly and change shape. The surprise of it left me unsure of what to do, so I just kept hanging on. Everyone spectated the event with stuck curiosity. It lasted only a moment, but the end result left me astonished.

Surpassing my height by a whole foot and several inches, was a large, four-legged beast. Its body was bigger than it's previous form, but looked down at me with the same red eyes. A large 'x' in the color of light gold was in the middle of its face. My changed battle partner, Metagross, now looked like a robot spider; awesome!

At this point, tears were sucessfully suppressed from the sense of pride now taking place in my chest. Of course, there was still a present issue to deal with, so our tender moment had to be put on hold. I turned to look at the people (and pokémon) who watched us.

"Alright Magma dorks!" I stated with a finger pointed at Courtney. "Get outta here before Team Maple puts another beat down on ya! And don't even think about coming back, cause I'm gonna start checking up here from time-to-time now on!"

In those few minutes, not a single person moved so much as a muscle. Team Magma may be thugs, but they still had their pride. It wasn't until the Magma admin finally took out her ball and withdrew her pokémon, did they show signs of retreat. Although, her piercing lavender eyes that glared at me promised revenge terrible enough to destroy my existence.

"...bye..."

Courtney swiftly turned on her heels to leave in a military march fashion. This was when the doppleganging pokémon decided to come out of hiding. She wisely stepped out of the violent woman's way, though the two made eye contact. It had been brief with dislike and frustration. Everyone who wasn't in my party left with their 'boss'.

 **...**

Everything went relatively well after that; Steven, skarmory, Metagross and I helped the other pokémon break out of its metal prison. When it regained its freedom, he immediately went over to what I could assume was his kin (because I refuse to believe that of that snuggling going on earlier was anything but innocent). She thankfully poofed back into her normal form and let out an excited coo.

"Such magnificent, majestic creatures," Steven observed with a finally relaxed gaze. He was stuck on 'flamboyantly eccentric' mode half the day. Trust me, you would get annoyed with someone very fast if they constantly activated that persona.

"They're almost as amazing as steel-types; speaking of which: Your Metagross! It was so beautiful! Such a beautiful, rare specimen!"

"Yeah, you said that about a million times. What's so special about it anyway?"

The steel/esper-type that had been previously consumed with observing its additional limbs, now moved its body up and down next to me for height comparisons. But the second it heard Steven talking about itself, Metagross quickly backed away from us to join the other two pokémon. The red and white one happily welcomed my battle partner's presence since it knew there was no danger. However, its kin was still wary from its unfortunate confrontation with humans.

"Well Miss May, normal beldum, metang and metagross are usually a dark blue and silver color; but yours is white and gold. In instances like this, mutations affecting the pokémon's appearance makes them what we call 'shiny pokémon',"

"Shiny?" I repeated while giving a glance over my shoulder to look back at Metagross. The metal pokémon confronted the formerly captured creature in an attempt to display kindness, but after flashing his pair of crimson eyes, he rebuked the care with a crying shout. Metagross decidedly made some distance between each other.

"Well...Brendan's dad is a pokémon professor who studies their habitats and stuff. He also told me that his dad was looking for special pokémon. Maybe that's what he was talking about?"

"Perhaps. Although pokémon professors don't get into the habit of searching for them unless their profession calls for it,"

Hm, I never thought about that. Usually a contract trainers have with their professors entailed collecting data from as many pokémon they were able to capture. A professor who's doing their job to study their behaviors and habitats shouldn't be looking for something like that. It sounds a bit over-reaching, but it felt a little shady.

Steven was about to something more when that blue and white pokémon suddenly shoved it's head close to my face with a perplexed expression. Naturally, I was caught off guard and nearly fell to create some space between us. Steven was bewildered and stumbled away from the unexpected encounter. Meanwhile, the creature's eyes started illuminating a bright crimson. I...I feel so strange-

" _DADDY! OUR HOUSE IS ON FIRE! PLEASE DON'T LET IT BURN DOWN! PLEEEEASE!"_

 _"...I'm sorry May..."_

"Miss May! Are you alright!"

The young trainer's voice suddenly tore me from the experience of an old, unpleasant memory that additionally left a stabbing pain in my chest. Tears stung my eyes again, but they were quickly subdued. It felt violating.

Rightfully, I got furious with the responsible party and angrily attempted pushing its head away. "Hey! Don't go invading people's heads like it's some scavenger hunt!" I said with brows tensing in growing hate. Though I put alot of effort in pushing him back, it was to no avail as the blue and white pokémon now turned his head and oval-shaped paws to my pack. This was getting annoying now.

Decidedly, I raised my fist to give him a hearty knock on the side, when the creature looked back at me with a pokéball in it's hold. At first, I had no idea what it was doing. But when he took of my hands to put the device in, the message clicked. Steven looked astounded by the gesture; which to be fair was appropriate. I mean: what kind of pokémon wants to be captured?

"Amazing! This pokémon...it wants to form an alliance with you!"

"Uh, hold the phone. You sure you wanna be caught? I mean you ARE a pretty rare pokémon and it's more than likely that I'll go mad with power and abuse it for my own personal benefit,"

"..."

"You too huh? Geez, all the silent types are weirdoes,"

With his consent (and before he could have any second thoughts) I gripped the ball and threw it at the target. He merely floated in the way so the ball could open up and turn him into light matter. Once transformed, it quickly got sucked into the device before falling on the soft grass. The ball rolled weakly around for several seconds before stopping with a click. Now captured, all of us moved towards the ball and I picked it up. That's when my pokédex went off with a notification. It was trying to tell me that there was a new entry. Alright, let's see what it says.

"Latios: The Eon pokémon. Latios has the ability to make others see an image of what it has seen or imagines in its head. This pokémon is intelligent and understands human speech...so where's the part about him screwing around in people's heads? Who writes this stuff anyways?!"

"Miss May you shouldn't act so harsh. Like you said: He's an intelligent pokémon. I'm sure he had his reasons,"

"Yeah and so are pokémon professors. And yet there's one I know that willingly doesn't want to prepare for the outdoors. That's blatant stupidity...and so's pissing me off,"

I wasn't gonna explain to Steven how that memory in the back burner had hurt me; we barely knew each other along with the fact that he couldn't relate. The red and white creature sensed my raw nerves, but respectfully didn't try to intervene. However, she hovered by Metagross to give it hintful nudges about attempting to tone down the tense atmosphere. Eventually, it got the message and tried to pet my head.

"Metagross! Cut it out!" I angrily demanded while slapping his great arm. That ended up hurting my hand instead. The sentient metal was taken aback by the rejection and quickly retreated back to the creature's side.

"I'm...the party's too full. I'm sending Latios to the p.c."

Ignoring the awkward moment, I pressed the button in front of the pokéball and held it down for it to be transported. But while I waited, my thoughts now inevitably turned back to that traumatic moment. Frame by frame, the scene kept playing in a torturous loop. I was forcing myself to think of something else, but it was an impossible feat. However, just as I thought my misery would never leave, a heavy but gentle touch gave me a rub on the head. There wasn't much of a mystery as to who it was.

Sure enough, Metagross was close again with it's arm ruffling my hair. This time it looked determined to cheer me up. While images of 'that day' still lingered, Metagross' effort motivated a hand to run across it's muscular, metal arm. I stared up at the steel/esper-type with new eyes. No matter how many times it was being pushed away, Metagross wouldn't leave me alone while I felt this way.

That's when it hit me.

I moved my head to see Latios' kin. There was no denying how horrible that part of life had been, but at least I wasn't alone. I had people with me. Some of them making me who I am today: My parents. Now it was Team Maple who's helping my dream come closer to reality. Somebodies to depend on. Latios simply revealed what kind of person he was dealing with; guess I did pass that purehearted test thing...I think. Now he was going to repay the debt of saving his family by surrendering his freedom. I'll be dammed if that's gonna happen!

My finger holding the button down on Latios' ball let go. "Okay Latios, get outta the ball!" I shouted and held it out. It opened up to release my new esper/dragon-type, who was also now in the state of confusion. Very quickly, I marched up to him with an accusing finger. "Alright pokémon! You're treading on some pretty thin ice here! Don't go thinking that you owe me your life or something just because I rescued the both of you! In fact, Steven's the one who manipulated me to go! But since you're part of my team now, I'll make you a deal..."

Once again, my finger pushed down on the button of the pokéball. "Take care of your family so that nothing bad happens to her. It's not like you can get captured by anyone else now anyway. "And this..." I held up the ball for everyone to see. "...This can stay in the p.c."

The timing couldn't have been more perfect, for when I finished my sentence, it disappeared in a flash as if it was never there. They all looked shocked seeing such a thing. Honestly, there was alot of uncertainty about the device being able to transport empty; but you know what they say: There's always a first time for everything.

"Miss May...how could you do that?"

"Who says I can't? Sides, I'm sure that there's already somebody else who thought of this. Now back to the topic,"

 **...**

My proposal to Latios had been agreed upon with the group. I let the pokémon stay with his kin and he would help me if a day for assistance was needed. As of now, there wasn't any real way to contact them, but I was sure that something would come up. That or just making regular stops to the island.

After that, Steven and I were returned to where we started. The red and white pokémon (that we came to find was called 'Latias' because I stopped being lazy and checked the pokédex) got us there and waved us goodbye before leaving. It wasn't long before we prepared to go our separate ways as well.

"Miss May, today has certainly been an interesting quest; and thanks to your efforts, peace has been restored,"

"Yeah, it was nothing. I mean, Team Magma's outta shape anyway-what are you doing?"

The moment had been normal up til Steven suddenly fell to one knee; taking ahold of my left hand in the process. Uuuh...this is getting pretty weird right now. Not to mention, most fairy tales I read always had assumed a position similar to his. It was only when they wanted to gallantly ask 'that' life-changing question. The man's features were calmly flamboyant in exaggeration to the nth degree. Mine was completely in terror with wide cerulean eyes and a mouth pulled down to the farthest a frown could possibly go. Additionally, sweat began drenching my face while the hand got uncomfortably clammy.

"Miss May, you have certainly caught my interest from the moment we met. I believe that one day, you'll shape the world for generations to come. So May...I would forever be a blessed man if- what are you doing?"

In a panic, my captured hand desperately struggled for freedom; even going so far as trying to yank it back with the free limb. Steven was to say the least, pretty puzzled.

"Miss May-"

"No way pal! I barely know you! Go find someone else to marry!"

"...*snicker*..."

We were still in our positions with his hand still clasping mine, but Steven looked like he was about to laugh. Now it was my turn to have a confused expression. What's so funny about refusing to marry?! Was it a restricted evil laugh that indicated resistance was futile?! Thankfully he was prepared to explain.

"Pardon the confusion, but that wasn't what I wanted to ask. I would like to know if you would be willing to accept a token of my appreciation,"

"Oh..."

I was flushed from the embarrassment of assumption and quickly threw a hand over my face. I planned on keeping the appendage stuck like that for eternity, but suddenly, a cold, metallic object slid onto my wrist. The feeling of this mysterious token of gratitude prompted curiosity to clear out the obstruction of vision to see a pretty looking accessory.

Sitting on my wrist was a bracelet. Normally (with the painful exception of contest spectaculars) jewelry wasn't something I indulged in, but something about it raised an interest. It was a silver bracelet etched with complex designs. The thing felt heavy on my arm. But the most intriguing feature was a familiar blueish-green stone set in the middle. It was bigger than the other stones of that color I've come across. It was then that I realized how more amazing it looked in the sunlight. The thing flashed its rainbow brilliance.

" I don't know if you recognize it or not, but this stone is called a 'mega stone'. Not much is known about this stone, but it is essential link to an even more powerful transformation for a few select pokémon. I'm sure that a courageous, responsible trainer like yourself will be able to unlock its secrets,"

"Uh, thanks. I feel kinda bad that I don't have anything to give you,"

"It's alright. If you continue on your path to becoming champion, we will surely meet again. You can return the favor then,"

"Okay then, I'll be sure to," I replied with hope in my smile. Aside from his weird tendencies and overly dramatic flair, Steven Stone was a decent guy. Hopefully, we could meet up again under better circumstances. But seriously, this guy really needed to work on his training skills! I mean, Wally's got more on him, and he just started!

Eventually, Steven bid me goodbye and went on his way. Something about more rock collecting. I stood there to wave at the young man's departure until he disappeared into the green ahead. Once gone, my gaze looked back at the bracelet with pride and wonder. This was more than just some trinket, this wa-"AUGH! Good arceus!"

Suddenly, pain shot into every part of my body; and it made me twitch with unpleasantness. All that adrenaline that ran through me from battling Team Magma wore off. Without warning, all the scuffs, bruises and cuts radiated feverently for my attention. Ugh, everything hurts. Okay, I think there was a house on the right of the route I needed to travel on. Better go there first.

 ***Continued in chapter 27***

 ***Péni: This story's regional currency; Pokémon + Yen + Zenni= Péni**


	27. Chapter 27

Finding a resting place was easy; getting up to that resting place is another story. After what felt like an eternity (really only thirty minutes) of walking, I discovered the house that was said to be here. What I also found was a large tree right next to it. For some reason it looked more appealing than staying in a man-made structure with the promise of company. Maybe because it reminded me of my old treehouse; the same one I had so much fun in before it got compromised. A night in there wouldn't hurt.

Unfortunately, every inch of my body still radiated soreness along with large hints indicating several cuts The fleshy vessel gave up on me and fell to the floor in little remorse. Well, it can't get any- plip, plip, plip-worse. Fate it seems, hated me a lot; reveling in the sick amusement it would call entertainment. Warm rain started falling down in an instant. The droplets were bigger, warmer and more frequent. Well, I was already aware that this place produced large amounts of precipitation. Now let's get up there!

"Alright Pelipper! I know you're still mad at me, but I reeeeally wanna get up there!"

"Guuah?" Said the water bird while gesturing her wing towards the house. I made a face and quickly shook my head. "No, I wanna go in the tree! I don't feel like talking to anyone right now,"

Pelipper stared at me like I was an idiot for saying that. A minute of continued staring made her decide to reach for my belt and push the button on the first ball. Instantly, Chirpie was sent out to tower over us. No sooner had he been aware of the new scenery did my water/flying-type catch his attention. She went up to the fire-fighter and explained the situation in their language. Occasionally during their conversation, Chripie would glance at me, the tree and then the house close by. Noticing how pathetic I looked lying on the ground, Chirpie curiously bent down and poked my calf. Almost instantly, pain greeted my nerves in the most excruciating way possible; and every scrunched up, tight expression told them both that. "Ow! Geez Chirpie! That hurt! What's the big idea?!"

He didn't answer me, but gave a commanding squawk to his counterpart. Pelipper waddled towards my belt again to put herself back into the spherical device. Chirpie however, seized me to throw my body over his shoulder. Of course, that caused more pain. "OW! I just said that-where are we going?"

At first, I thought he was gonna climb up the tree, but when he started to walk away from the thing, it dawned on me that we were headed towards the house. AUGH! That's not what I wanted! Struggling was an option, but its physical pain of after effects wasn't very appealing. In the end, Chirpie got his way of carrying me to the house.

 **…** **...**

Pain...so much pain. That's the kind of trial I endured these past three days in the house of the Berry Master. The moment my firebird and I came through his door, the fabled old man along with his wife eagerly welcomed us in. Chirpie (as best as he could) explained through his awkward charades that I was injured and needed somewhere to stay. Seeing as how they didn't have many visitors, they happily obliged. Although, the rest of that evening consisted of me screaming in agony while Chirpie massaged out the cramps.

Accomplishing that sort of task wasn't easy for a firebird with three, sharp talons on each hand. At first, he seemed to be at a loss whilst trying to solve our problem. Then, he looked down at his elbows. A light bulb went off and proceeded to rub the muscles of my flesh with them. It didn't mean however, that the pain wasn't there.

I fought against my pokemon, but he clearly had the advantage. Being a human juvenile didn't amount to much in comparison of a tall, adult fire/fighting-type. Plus I was sore all over, so actually going on the offensive was an option born to fail.

When he wasn't torturing my muscles, Chirpie made me sleep in the guest room we stayed in as he took out my things to keep track of what we had. Oh, you thought I was the only one who did that? You see, Chirpie began to get interested in organization. One day, he took my pack out of curiosity and dumped it on the ground. Everything came out in a messy pile. He had looked back at me, and then to the messy pile. Ever since then, he would occasionally organize everything that was in there and notice items things that I missed when I checked.

But I really hated being banished to the futon when I could be awake doing stuff. Well, I was allowed to go to the bathroom and eat. Truth be told, my body was a little glad for some R and R. Although, every time I tried to get up to do something physically demanding, Chirpie gave me this threatening glare to lay back down. Though I could argue, my protests went something like this:

"Okay Chirpie, I'm the trainer here! I can do whatever I want!'

"…..."

"Stop giving me that look! I'm okay! See-ow!"

"….."

"Look, all I did was just move my arm. I probably just bent it too much. I can't just lay here! Who does that?!"

"….."

"ALRIGHT! I'll go back to bed!"

Though I declared doing so, my stubborn will tried every trick in the book to stay awake while lying down. My eyes were closed, but that didn't mean I had been asleep. Now to make sure Chirpie left and victory would be mine! Didn't he know how clever his trainer was? HAH! How silly of hi-

 **...Four Hours Later...**

Heaviness still weighed down my eyelids, but the feeling of drool got me to rub them awake. UGH, I gave in and slept?! Curse these needy body functions! Chirpie's probably in the living room laughing it up because I can't hang! He won't be for long!

Driven by the frustration of paranoid humiliation, my limbs forced the body connected to it up and already marching out of the room. However, an entire scene contrived from a tortured imagination came to a screeching halt when I went into the living area. There was Chirpie, sitting at the wooden table with the old couple. He had a tomat berry in his talons as they talked. Also, everything looked less dusty and neater. HUH?! What were they doing to MY pokemon?! They better not be abusing him!

I jumped into view with an accusing finger. Accompanying the overly dramatic gesture had been a facial expression of majorly exaggerated proportions. "Oh, you're finally awake? And you look so much better! Come and sit down with us!" The old lady ushered me to sit down on a lively mauve zabuton next to Chirpie. Nice try! It's gonna take a lot more than that to be easily duped!

"Listen here you-AH!"

A short, abrupt tug from the back of my shirt on Chirpie's taloned appendage forced me to sit on my knees. My face suddenly altered into something that was similar to confusion. I was then shoved a pink pecha berry by the firebird and gestured to eat the thing. The fruit was the size of my fist with a light pink color. A look of suspicious curiousity crossed my face before slowly taking a bite of the pecha. Its unusually sweet, pulpy insides made a pleasant tingle resonate within me. Dam this was good...where has it been all my life?

The four of us entered a conversation that revolved around the last three days. There was a variety of different mini subjects inside our main topic, but it mostly revolved around Chirpie. Apparently when I was sleeping, he would go help the old couple with chores that were too difficult to do by themselves. He spent the first day helping hoe and cultivate the garden fore future plants. Being a natural born worker, it was no sweat to him. The second day, Chirpie lifted all the heavy furniture while they cleaned underneath it, organized all the bookshelves, cleaned out the attic and dusted. Throughout all the praises, he sorta hid his face with a taloned hand from the embarrassment of it. If he wasn't covered in feathers, I was sure he was blushing.

"He such a good boy! I'm no expert, but he's very mature, responsible bird! You've done a very good job of raising him!"

Really? It sure felt like the complete opposite sometimes. What with caving into his wants the majority of the time. Maybe it was the intense battles I put him through or (probably corny though), the power of friendship! Either way, I was a little proud of myself with the knowledge of his reliable tendencies. Our talk continued being merry; which prompted us to stay another night.

By the next day though, the decision to leave was inevitable for the sake of my dream. The Berry Master and his wife eagerly gave us a sack full of berries. I reserved a space in the garden, just in case we came back for another visit. Hopefully, we could after my journey was over.

 **…** **.**

On the road again, the two of us encountered many wild pokémon and trainers in a sea of grass that grew impossibly tall. Weirdly enough, everyone followed some strange ritual of moving in a direction that was opposite of a peer to engage in battle; I actually had a fun time doing it.

When we came out of the grassy thicket, a rest house had caught our sights. People in a profession like mine learn to appreciate generous Samaritans who run places like that, or kind folks like the Berry Master. Normally I would break into an ecstatic dash, but decided to stay by Chirpie's side. We were partners after all.

The rest house in particular was about the same size as the previous one I visited, but had more than one person running it. The main host had been a young man with his teenage sister and a wingull. Their bird in question was very polite to us; though it was gone by midafternoon to deliver a letter in Fortree City. And speaking of water birds, there was one I needed to reconcile with.

Taking out her ball, Pelipper was summoned on the spot. Chirpie stayed as a mere bystander to watch how our interaction went. With an oran berry in hand, I knelt down to her level and offered it along with an apology. "Pelipper…" I said while forcing my eyes to be still on her. "I'm sorry about not trusting you. I'm a pretty big idiot sometimes; and….I don't want you to feel awkward anymore between us. Can you….can you forgive me?"

My hand was a little shaky as Pelipper tilted her head to the side as she stared at me with a puzzled face. Why was she doing that? Slowly, her webbed, blue feet made her waddle towards me. I held out the peace offering in hopes she would take it, but the water bird ignored its delicious splendor to rest her body on my lap. A bunch of confusing thoughts came into my brain at this single action. Normally when I was mad at somebody, it would take an apology combined with food to ease my wrath. But Pelipper (who should be rightfully angry) simply nestled on me without a moment's thought. I quickly looked back at Chirpie as if he'd actually voice what was going on with her.

My tall fighting fowl almost looked like he was going to laugh and shook his head. From that simple action, it was immediately understood: Pelipper never had a grudge against me to begin with! The thought of it sounded ludicrous, but she got over her anger towards me after spraying water in my face. She has a better temper than I do.

For a little while, the both of us stayed in our positions as I petted her head full of feathers. My seabird cried out a relaxed sound in reaction to being pleased by the affections. Hm, my bracelet was kinda hitting her head while I was petting her. I need to put that thing away. It only took a minute to shove the thing in my bag and resuming my petting of my battle partner. Without noticing it, we fell asleep on the short-haired, brown rug close to the fireplace. As for Chirpie, he continued to stand watch until he too got sleepy.

 **...**

Hmmmm…..I feel so warm. It made me wanna sleep forever. These comforters with the futon really knew how to mellow me out- WAIT. How did I make it to the futon? Did Chirpie carry me there when I passed out? And where did Pelipper go? She was with me til I unexpectedly passed out.

Ughhh….forget it, sleeping is more important….NO! Get the hell up! Willing my arms to cast aside the heavy blankets, the slightly cooler air forced me to sit up. To my relief, I was still in the rest house with no signs of trouble. But just as it seemed clear, my wary gaze suddenly picked up someone sitting by the fireplace. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't be a weird thing since it's a rest stop and just about anybody comes through places like these. But in my case, this wasn't just an 'anybody'. Though this person's back faced me, his dark, wavy hair and expensive ultramarine shirt was easily recognizable. Good arceus! How did he find me?! I hoped that my head start would have kept me ahead; or at the very least have the side trip to Southern Island put him ahead! I have rotten luck for sure!

On the bright side, Professor Augustine Sycamore wasn't paying any particular attention to me. I could escape him now while I have the chance! Alright, stealth mode activated.

As quiet as my environment could allow me, my body slowly got up from the bedding. My breath slowed with inhaling and exhaling. Now in a crouch, creeping away was what had been in mind as a method of moving to escape. The guy was too tall to see me anyway- "May my darling little bird: Up already? And where could you possibly be going?"

Good arceus! He almost gave me a heart attack! How did he know I was trying to leave?! Did the man have eyes in the back of his head?! The professor's question practically jolted me out of my skin while creating a dumbfounded stupor. Alright, no big deal. Just make something up and get outta there!

"Uuuh…I'm just uh…gonna go fishing!"

"Fishing?! Right after rising from slumber? Quite an unusual thing to do; especially since you have not given your beloved professor a greeting after deserting him to her father's scrutiny,"

"*scoffs* You're still alive aren't you? Sides, I didn't want to talk to him, so I left! Are you gonna let me fish or what?"

Despite his habit of proper social mannerisms, Professor Sycamore continued to face his back towards me. His hands were busy with some unknown thing. I figured he thought in silence to make up excuses for me to stay, but his head turned to flash a pleasant smile. "Of course darling! Do whatever your heart desires! The world is your cloyster!" he replied in an innocent tone of voice.

For some reason, it felt too easy of a response. He knew how hard I tried to escape his presence." Uh….kay!" was my quick reply while getting upright and turning on eager heels to head for the door. All the excitement to get away nearly caused me to break into a run. Ecstatic hands took ahold of the brass doorknob and twisted it in revealing the hot, humid atmosphere.

"Do not be too long however or else Skitty will start to miss you,"

Huh?

Hearing his words, I suddenly looked down at my belt and felt up each object attached to it. With shock, my hand gaped at one missing ball, feeling the fabric instead of round, smooth matter. How did he-AAAUGH! Annoying! He was so annoying! It was more than likely that he took Skitty's ball away from me when secured my form in the futon.

Suddenly, an excited mewling sound came from behind. I swiftly whirled around to see my small, pink cat peeking her head out of hiding from his lap. Sycamore moved his own enough to where I could be clearly seen; flashing another innocent smile that clearly hid another message. My body was frozen in place, but that didn't mean a frown couldn't form from being outsmarted.

"What is the matter, Miss Maple? Are you not going to fish? Hurry up, do ? The day will not last forever!"

"Yeah, yeah! Keep your pants on! I'm going already!"

"Keep my pants on? Miss Maple…..is there some sort of naughty thing you are suggesting?"

SLAM!

Just outside the rest house flowed a huge, bubbling river. Earlier, I noticed a few fisherman catching fishing Pokémon from it, and had initially decided to try my skills there anyway. While not the greatest angler, I had some ability to wrangle in a couple. Good thing I got a good rod instead of that wooden, old one; that thing was thrown away the second its successor fell in my hands.

Sitting on the bank, I casted the line with a powerful motion of my arm and let it sail through the air until it landed on the water's surface. With its buoy floating daintily on the top, I now entered a period of waiting.

 **…...**

Man I am so over this. Over an hour of fishing and I was already losing my attention span. During this time, I did manage to snag a few carahvana and one strange-looking pokemon. The thing had a brown body with spots decorating it. Its blue fins were torn and sad. I felt like the animal was mocking my earlier frustrations, so I put it back in the river. I'm sure that I'll fish out another one when my mood lightened up.

Once I got back to the rest house, I caught the sight of Professor Sycamore playing with Skitty. She had been tossed her ball of red thread and pawed at it before rolling it over back to him. They seemed to enjoy each other's company; which sorta annoyed me further. But this time, upon noticing me, Skitty ran up to nuzzle her head against my leg in request to be picked up. HUH?! She actually wanted attention from her beloved trainer?! HAH! It wasn't all hopeless yet! Suck it Sycamore, you're not the only one she likes anymore!

Speaking of him, the kalosian stood up and adjusted his messenger bag. "Are you finally done with your excursion? I must say that it took you much faster than I expected. Were you missing me already?" his purposely teasing voice suggested while leaning forward. An even wider smile spread across his princely features. Obviously my response was a contempting scoff closely followed by a rolling pair of eyes.

"Yeah, no. Not even close. I got bored and we need to get to Fortree City. Now are you ready or what?" Sycamore let out a cheerful laugh as he pulled back to walk past me and stride over by the door. "Darling pupil of mine, you offend me so! I was born ready!" he declared proudly; opening the door to treacherous thunder, lightning and nearly drowning rain. We both stared at the horrible weather that suddenly manifested. One of the most prominent features about taking this route to Fortree was the on and off down pouring rain.

Professor Sycamore stared at the unpleasantness with an oddly wide smile for a few more seconds before politely shutting the door to sit himself down by the fireplace again. It was pretty much clear how unwilling he looked now. Still, I couldn't resist voicing the issue. "Hey, what's the hold-up? Didn't you say you were born ready?" I accused while getting Skitty's ball and putting her back inside. Sycamore let out a nervous chuckle as he plotted an excuse.

"It is just that….you see darling…why do we not just wait it out? After all, we cannot risk getting wet,

growing ill and die! That would be an ironic yet tragic fate! I cannot even button up my shirt all the way

to keep myself wa-"

"I'm leavin',"

"Hold on dear! It could be disastrous! Not to mention bandits that may lie in wait for cute, vulnerable girls like yourself!"

With ease, my hand opened the door to reveal the unmerciful nature behind it. I stuck out a foot while staring at him. Heavy, warm rain drenched the sturdy material that made my shoe. The leg attached to it also proceeded to get wet.

But before I could torment him further, Sycamore was already holding my arms back to pull me away from the door. Naturally, I struggled to have my limbs free. "Come now darling! Please be reasonable!"

"You're the one who's being weird! What kind of Pokémon professor doesn't like nature?!"

"The same kind who refuses to let their cute students to-OOF!"

 **…**

The professor and I resumed our journey towards Foretree City with heavy grey clouds hanging above our heads. While the heavy rain stopped, we knew that it wouldn't take long to resume again. During that previous time, Sycamore managed to convince me to stay inside til the rain stopped through bribery. His plot manifested after he pulled me back hard enough to knock the wind out of him. At first, he found himself at a loss while holding me in place, but suddenly, an enlightened smile spread across his features.

 _"_ _You know darling, it would be a terrible loss if you leave so soon," I heard his voice say as I grew uncomfortably stiff in attempting to be free._

 _"_ _What do I care for?! There's literally nothing here that I want!"_

 _"_ _Is that so?" he asked in a sultry voice while one of his arms released my left shoulder. Sounds of things rummaging around could be heard. "What about…this?"_

 _Suddenly, a rectangular shape was teasingly waved in front of my eyes. They widened in recognizing the object: Chocolate. Well the wrapper said ' Chocolat le Kalos', but candy was still candy. My hands reached out to grab the confection; and they utterly failed as Professor Sycamore quickly pulled it out of reach. Furious about the tormenting temptation, I turned around and tried again to steal the thing fromhim_ _again. In comparisons to our height however, Professor S_ _ycamore was waaaaaay too tall for_ _me._

 _Accompanied with fits, my hands kept greedily reaching for the_ _snack. "Oh, you want it? Did you not say that there is nothing you desire in this place? If that is the case, then you will not have a problem watching me eat it,"_

 _The kalosian's soft lips parted as he removed its fancy wrapping; having the intentions to eat the chocolate right in front of me for the sake of challenging my defiance. "ALRIGHT! Just give me the dam candy bar, asshole! I'll_ _stay!" Most_ _of the occupants in the rest house heard the commotion, but did their best to act deaf. Being the sadistic egotist that he was, Sycamore lowered his arm just enough so I could snatch my ill-earned prize and escape to a lonely corner. Bitterly, I consumed it with the taste of chocolate and defeat in my mouth._

With us currently on the road after that debacle, we braved the absurdly tall grass, pokémon rangers, ninjas and Mightyena's muddy fur threatening to brush against us whenever she came close. It happened when the dark-type found a mud puddle and decided it would be a good idea to roll around and play in it.

Since I wore an outfit specifically designed for the outside, it wasn't much of a bother. My traveling companion on the other hand did everything in his power to avoid, side-step, dodge or scoot away from the danger having his expensive clothes ruined. Good arceus! Sycamore's dedication for neatness and cleanliness was insane; almost borderline OCD!

Very funny for sure, but their amusing movements came to an end when a person suddenly jumped into view. The action almost gave me a heart attack and succeeded in provoking swears while bumping back into the professor. Both him and Mightyena were also surprised, but not as animated as I'd been. To top it off, the surprise turned out to be very unsavory.

"Uh, hi! You uh….you don't wanna go this way!"

"Really? How come?"

"Well there's this gas leak, and its everywhere! Definitely not safe!" Explained the OBVIOUSLY LYING TEAM MAGMA LOSER; who had every fiber of his being sweat in nervousness. Not only did he scare me half to death, but this dork was guilty by default due to his affiliation with the evil organization. I already knew what to do with nobodies like him.

"That sounds pretty serious and-" **BAM**!

With no mercy, I drove my fist right into the Magma grunt's face while distracting him with the beginnings of a conversation. I wasn't too good with those anyway. He instantly fell back on the soaked ground with a wet thud. Alright! One-hit K.O.! Now to see if he's got anything good on him.

Calling Mightyena over with a whistle, the two of us began to ransack our unconscious foe. But just as I started digging around the spacious pockets for his wallet, a pair of hands seized my waist and lifted me to my feet. Obviously, it was my overly pampered, strangely speaking and handsome professor who had little problem interrupting my plans. Mightyena had looked up at us in confusion; her head however was still poised by the grunt's foot from readying herself to pull off his shoe.

"Hey! Lemme go! I'm just trying to take his wallet!"

"Not a chance, darling. Have you not learned from your previous encounter with these dreadful barbarians?"

"When were you at Southern Islan-I mean, they weren't so tough at Mt. Chimney!"

"As you say now, dear, but what about the next time? Dangerous thugs aren't simple forces to be

reckoned with. Especially for naive, hot-headed little girls. Now let us move on from this place. I fear the rain will be upon us soon,"

Fuck, he was so infuriating beyond all reason. There was a certainty that he wouldn't let me do anything involving Team Magma. Well, dad sure as hell didn't want me to get in it with them too, but he wasn't here so it was sorta less of an issue with him. But how could I give this guy the slip? Unless I could be right in the middle of a battle with them, he would try to excuse me while dragging my fitful body away. Hmmm. As my brain reached for ideas, I let my eyes wander until they rested on Mightyena. Hey! That might work.

"Gosh professor, I guess your right! We'll just hafta go ahead before the rain sets in!"

"Agreed Miss Maple! We must make haste then!"

Deeming my reply satisfying, Professor Sycamore let me go before lending put his arm. But instead of latching onto it like he wanted, I barrel-rolled right over to the still unconscious opponent. In a quick pull, my hands took off the guy's shoe and waved it in front of Mightyena. "You want the shoe, girl?! Do ya?! GO GET IT!" I shouted and threw the object at Sycamore. Unfortunately for him, his reactive instincts made him catch it.

" Miss Maple! What is the meaning of- **BON ARCEUS**!"

Before he could have time to finish his sentence, Mightyena automatically jumped after her prize; inevitably leaping on him in the process. Bullseye! Now to find out what Team Magma's up to!

With Sycamore distracted in his now dirtied appearance and trying to fend off the energetic wolf pokémon, I dashed off ahead. Behind me though, I could hear shouts of anguish and swearing in strange, foreign words. Man, I'm sure he's not going to be happy with me afterwards. At least he'll have some company.

Having that in mind, I tackled more abnormally tall grass trails and large, muddy puddles until my eyes suddenly caught something out of the ordinary in a setting of nature. Nestled against a large wall of rock by a waterfall had been a large-looking facility. By it, was a long bridge made a wood that stretched to the other side. Hm, did that bridge lead to Foretree? Maybe, but what about this place? What could be here to warrant such secrecy? Whatever was there, it certainly needed Team Maple (minus Mightyena) to investigate!

Am I ready for it?! Obviously not! Was I going in anyway? Hah! Who wouldn't?! Sides, it would be a dam shame to miss out on all those wallets.

In a quick flash, eager hands opened the large, glass door by its metal handles. Boy, these were some heavy doors. No matter though, they did little to deter my efforts. Once it was wide enough, I slipped inside to find myself fifteen feet across from a reception desk…..what?

I kid you not; right now, my vision clearly saw a large, marble reception desk with a computer and everything. Next to it, was a stand of pamphlets and a waiting couch by the wall. What kind of place in the middle of nature would need stuff like this? Grabbing one of the colorful tri-folds from its place on the rack, my question had soon been answered.

"Welcome to….Hoenn's Regional Weather Institute,"

I'd be lying if I said I knew what a weather institute was; my hobbies and profession didn't really delve into the world of science. The only general guess that came to mind about this place had been…well, a place that studies the weather. But geez, what a weird area; my view of any profession involving science didn't include an entrance looking like this.

Anyway, I managed to get past that strangeness to look around for anything amiss. Going further into this place revealed a more typical setting of what I perceived as a lab. Four groups of four desks with four computers sitting on top of their clean, dully shining surfaces. Whoever decided to have bright green office chairs as the choices for seating needed to be fired from decorating. Properly tying a room together (even if it's a lab) isn't rocket science. Against the light grey walls and atop of checkerboard tiles of dark and metallic grey were big cabinets. On top of them were smushed boxes while a few other cabinets had small plants. The majority of some walls had been covered with strange maps I couldn't make sense of.

Okay, where was everybody at? I didn't see any signs of struggle or terror committed, so there has to be at least ONE person running this place. The lights were on and the doors are unlocked! Maybe I missed something after hearing the grunt's warning about staying away. Could he have been right, and I was in danger of killing myself? Well fuck.

But just as doubt came to my thoughts, a sound of glass breaking reverberated to my ears. Ah-hah! So there was trouble afoot after all. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Those criminals will be mauled, maimed and mugged in the name of justice after I'm through with them! Figuring out with direction the sound came from, I proceeded with caution until I came to a staircase leading to another floor. Getting closer revealed sounds of more commotion; Team Magma being the cause as usual. The sweet anticipation of battling, beating and boasting gave me more than enough energy to climb the stairs and roll right into the second level.

"Alright, nobody move! This is a rescue!"

As I greatly suspected, there were indeed Team Magma grunts and hostages occupying the room. It wasn't as large as the first floor, but still pretty big. There were the same kind of desks, computers atrocious chairs, walls and flooring. However, there was another strange machine sitting all by itself; spouting out paper with many zigzagging lines drawn all over it. Not only that, but a different setting was placed on the other side of the room.

It looked like an office with large, burgundy couches and a glass table on the right side, with the left having a large teak desk and a laptop sitting on it. However, the biggest surprise had to do with the person who was rifling through the office desk drawers. While it wasn't Courtney or that mysterious girl who picked her teeth with me, it was someone who was just as dangerous. The person heard my voice and rose up from their awkward crouching position.

"HUH?! You again?! What are you doing here?!"

"I should be asking you that! To run into a stressful child like you is bad enough! I don't have time to screw around!"

Tabitha of all people. Although I preferred to go without seeing his intimidating side, he was by far leaps and bounds better than his female counterpart. Not to mention, he lost to adorably-eyed Wally. If you manage to have someone like that beat you, quit being a trainer. To be fair though, Wally had a more variety of types of pokémon.

The young adult put the items he now possessed in the hands of one of his grunts. Wait a minute….were those maps? What kind of loser steals maps?! Maybe if they were treasure maps, I would understand, but we're in a weather institute place! What is wrong with these people?!

" Too bad Magma dork! Prepared to be stressed AND annoyed! Team Maple's gonna wreck you hard! Go Dust-"

Suddenly, a boot was thrown over my head and landed in the arms of a quickly reactive grunt. Unfortunately for him, a large, wolf-like dog came right after it; throwing her whole body weight forward and landing on the victim. HAH-HAAAAH! Mightyena was back…..GOOD ARCEUS! Mightyena was back! That means-

" Oh! Excuse my presence, but I could not help but hear the sound of a young maiden's voice crying in need!"

Not fighting the inevitability, my head turned with new, anxious fear. Wouldn't you guess; it was the self-proclaimed rescuer himself. He stood there confidently with a charming smile and muddied clothes. Crap, I was hoping to at least expecting him to come after I claimed victory and forced them out. At least there's plenty of people around for him to keep his 'charismatic saint' persona. Although, my pride still creeped up from the man calling me a 'maiden who cried for help'.

"Shut up! I wasn't crying for help!"

"Really? Then what was all that terrified shouting? Surely it must have been coming from the pained cries of that sweet voice of yours!"

"It's from telling you shut the-"

"Go camerupt!"

Distracted by Sycamore's presence, I didn't notice Tabitha pull out his ball and send out his giant lava camel. Well, maybe having a large animal in a room that's not as spacious as the first floor probably wasn't the best idea for him, but then again, most of Team Magma didn't have any common sense. And since Mightyena is already out, she may as well go into battle. "Alright Mightyena, let's do this!" I shouted. Being well within earshot, she instantly complied and jumped right in camerupt's view. The fire/ground-type wasn't too happy with this match-up as expected. But it lowered it's great head to try to bite my pokémon. Mightyena was fortunately faster than her opponent and moved out of the way. Although the easy solution would be to use strong, crowd-controlling attacks to make up for the lack of speed, using them in a place like this would be a very stupid idea.

Aside from the disadvantaged pokémon, another thing going against Tabitha was Mightyena knowing a fighting-type move. Camerupt wasn't a rock- type, but could still be inflicted with a ton of damage because its part ground."Mightyena! Use your rock smashing technique!" I commanded with intent to finish it off as soon as possible. My large wolf dog jumped back so she could gain some distance. If you think that her previous form could pack a punch, just wait until you see how she's improved. She charged forward, leaving scratches on the floor in the process. Of course, camerupt wasn't gonna just stand there like a fool, so it started moving forward while bracing itself for the collision. This was one of the few times I was glad to be facing a large, hulking animal like-"Koffing, tackle that Mightyena!"

Wha- **BAM**!

The played out scenario in my head suddenly ran vastly different from what just happened: A koffing coming completely out of nowhere to bash my pokémon from the side. The dark-type was just as surprised as I was when taking the blind-sided assault. It knocked her against one of the desks; effectively destroying an expensive computer and other pieces of office equipment. Looking back to where Tabitha was, a female grunt stood by his side.

"HEY! You can't make it a double battle in the middle of a fight! That's cheatin'!"

"I'm on a tight schedule, so cry me a river and beat it if you can't take the heat!"

Tch, serves me right for complaining about battle rules to a bunch of thugs. I'm just gonna bend some myself then. As Mightyena was now dealing with one of the MANY koffings Team Magma had, I took out Pelipper's ball. Camerupt is both fire and ground; hopelessly weak against water. Hehehe, this fight will be easy.

With my best foot in front, I took a step for-"UAGH-OOF! What the?!"

I took a step alright, but it was on a floor now blanketed in ice. Obviously, it ruined my balance and caused me to slip and fall. Alright, who's the idiot who did this?! They will pay through the nose and other vital body parts!

Looking around as I struggled getting up however, I realized that everyone else in the room was just as confused. Mightyena had pads on her feet with sharp claws, so moving around wasn't too difficult. The fire camel's heat had already melted the iced floor underneath it. Everyone else (aside from koffing) were the ones who had trouble moving around. So again I ask: Who's the moron who dares mess with May Maple's battle?!

Suddenly, a figure skated into the room; making it colder than the humidity would have allowed. Stopping in the middle of the confrontation was a literal two-and-a-half foot ice sculpture. Actually to say it has been a sculpture would be a bit of a stretch. It looked more like a large chunk of ice with stubby legs, arms and fingers. Four more thick spears of ice stuck out from its back while it turned to survey its surroundings. The only prominent feature about this….'pokémon', was located where a face would normally be. Several glowing gold dots were embedded in the ice in the shape of a cross. Whatever this thing is, there was enough certainty to believe that this strange creature was certainly out of its element.

"Alright! Don't let any of these thugs escape! Its time to dish out our own brand of justice!"

That voice! I'd recognize how cheesy it sounded anywhere!

Sure enough, suddenly coming right in after the strange Pokémon on a pair of ice skates, was the young teenager himself; just as nerdy as ever.

"Prepare yourselves, Team Magma: You're about to be brought down by the Birch Squad!"

…..the what?

 ***Continued in chapter 28***


	28. Chapter 28

Confusion. Yep, that's the best way to describe this situation. Pretend you were somebody just minding your own business and accidentally stumbled into this room. A room where me with a Kalosian professor having a large, black and gray wolf facing off against a purple inflated ball who accompanied a giant camel with small volcanos on its back. These creatures were owned by people dressed in dark red sweater onsies with nerd shorts. THEN imagine a live ice sculpture skating in with a person calling themselves 'The Birch Squad'.

I know; 'The Birch Squad' was a pretty weird name. Way to make the situation strange by using a stupid name like that!

Anyway, Tabitha didn't react so much about the name, but Brendan's Pokémon he chose for battle. "Hah! I doubt that! Don't you know that ice-types are weak against fire?!" He spat, almost as if Maxie's admin had been insulted about him bringing a disadvantaged type. Brendan only stood there with crossed arms.

"I know, but what kind of fire-type moves are you gonna use in a cramped office space?"

"...I...uh...stomp on it, camerupt!"

Tabitha's giant fire camel found itself to be flustered by how restrained it felt from the lack of space, but managed to raise a mighty hoof and attempted to step on the little ice creature. It moved out of its line of fire and skated around the foe. Everywhere this thing went, thin sheets of frost blanketed the floor. "Let's do this quick: Hit it hard and fast with your hammer arm technique!" Brendan commanded in full on excitement. His battle partner moved back in front of the beast; an arm half-raised and glowing. The camerupt saw what was coming and stretched out its neck in lightning speed. It got the ice sculpture's arm alright, but the non-hazardous one.

"Oh sh-BAM!"

One punch. That was all it took; a brutal hit to the face from a fight based attack to send it back….or if you wanna be specific, sending it back against his owner to slide against the wall. Everyone watched as Maxie's right hand man nearly get squished by his Pokémon as they collided. Obviously, the impact caused damage to the plaster wall and possibly some cracked ribs in Tabitha's case. A computer desk that had the unfortunate luck of being close to them was effortlessly destroyed.

Brendan's skating ice piece turned around to return to him. Maybe now's the perfect time to apprehend him.

"Mightyena get back up! I need your help in getting Maxie's man-child!" I shouted, for any attempt at getting on my feet would've resulted in falling flat on my butt. My large wolf Pokémon ( who had already been messed up by that koffing tackle) forced itself to stand. But just as she did, the SAME poison-type ball of inflated gas came back upon her with a slam. What gives?! How is that even possible?! I couldn't even begin to question the logic of its lack of weight inflicting a ton of damage, but this thing was in my way!

Mightyena got back up quicker this time and jumped on another computer desk; accidentally knocking over an expensive monitor with a wag of her tail. Whoops…I'll pay for that…eventually.

Back to her obstacle, my dark-type growled threateningly at her adversary and crouched in a readying position to strike. With careful precision, Mightyena ju-suddenly stopped when an object was thrown her way, and it wasn't just any object. Lying on another desk across from her was another Team Magma boot. Oh no! "Mightyena don't-"

Too late. Her desire to seize and chew holes in it overrode her focus and swiftly jumped onto the other desk for the footwear. I tried to get closer to issue a command, but koffing got there first.

"Koffing, cover the room in your smokescreen,"

Upon hearing the command, the gas ball shrunk itself to spray put a foul-smelling odor that blanketed my sight. An opportunity had been quickly seized as sounds of returning Pokémon grunting, stressed noises, rustling of papers and feet retreating were clearly heard. Nooo! Must find and destroy! I can't just let them leave without any personal insults or black eyes! Unfortunately however, I couldn't even stand up right on the ice.

"You got lucky that I didn't put you in your place this time! But you better stay outta my way if we see each other again!"

 **…..**

Rain, so much rain. I'm surprised this part the region hasn't flooded by now. In the aftermath of our encounter with Team Magma, Brendan and I finally gave each other casual greetings and helped pick up the mess. Professor Sycamore of course conveyed his 'sincerest apologies' and somehow convinced them to allow us to stay for the night. Despite how much office equipment we wrecked, the head of Hoenn's Weather Institute was actually more grateful than pissed. In fact, he even gave us each a weather Pokémon called castform. One of its interesting features is that it could change appearances depending on the weather. Though while he went on about how we couldn't be able to control the weather, I was pretty sure he forgot about the fact that trainers could command their Pokémon to change the weather. Therefore, we actually could. I'll let him have his moment though.

"By the way: What did those Magma nerds want with those maps anyway?"

"Well young lady, they were looking for topographic maps that dated back to 4,000 years ago,"

"What's a topographic map?"

I really shouldn't have asked what that was, because I got an extremely long answer. Although duty bound to collect any information necessary for battling Team Magma, four hours of listening to this guy talk just barely made it worth standing straight the whole time. What I got out of it, had been that those kind of maps had plenty of uses; including earth sciences. Since Maxie was a complete nerd with no hope of doing anything else, I knew that he'd probably use it for another plan for me to ruin. It was only a matter of time now before Team Maple paid him a visit. Enjoy your small victory while you can, it won't last long!

After gleaning all the information I could from the head of the institute, I decided to head back downstairs to reunite with the rest of the occupants there. Brendan Birch was the first person I saw while coming down the stairs. He had been squatting down to be closer to his Pokémon. It held a frozen nanab berry. Upon noticing me, the ice creature faced those golden orbs in by direction while holding the fruit more protectively. Its master was much more friendlier.

"Hey May. You figure out what Team Magma stole?"

"Yeah, but it was only maps. If it was me, I would have at least lifted a couple of things from the vending machine over there,"

"Man you never change, always thinking with your stomach…or your fists. Have you ever thought about using nice words or being non- violent for once?"

"Hey! There's plenty of times where I've been ni-"

"DISCOUNTING Pokémon Spectaculars,"

NGH. He got me there. Brendan better be thankful that I'm nicer to him (and Wally) than before. I attempted to make a face at him, but instead gave him a grin that said 'I knew he was right'. But in a playfully pouty way, I tossed my head with an "Hmph!" and declared "I'm gonna go get something from the vending machine!" Brendan turned his attention back to his Pokémon, but shouted to me: "Bring back some octiyaki bites: seaweed flavored!" The ice-type made an excited sound upon hearing what its master requested. Brendan waved a finger at it in response. "AFTER you finish your nanab. You gotta eat all the good stuff first so you can get stronger,"

Brendan is such a dad. Taking care of his battle partners, as he put it, was like raising a kid sometimes. You feed them, nurse them back to health play with them, teach them right from wrong, but most importantly: Loving them unconditionally. He told me there were times when he was mad at them, but like with myself, Brendan learned to be patient. I wish I could've hung out with him more than 'You-know-who'.

Walking around to the vending machine, I took put my wrinkled bills along with heavy change. Looking over what was desired behind the plastic casings had always been fun. Vending machines held many diverse brands and flavor of snacks. Drinks however used to be an issue.

I think it was many years when people started putting the treat dispensing machines up. For the LONGEST time, the options were water, lemonade or soda. Only up to a year ago did someone finally say in the vending business: 'Hey, these are some pretty limiting choices. Let's change it up!'. Now we have palpico yogurt, apple juice, jelly drinks and a ton of other stuff I can barely pronounce. May I meet the man who changed it all and sob joyfully in front of him in gratefulness.

Anyway, I began inserting money into the machine while deciding which one to get first. I could go with the octiyaki bites first, but I reeeeeally wanted to eat some flaafy cotton candy. Oh? There's even sunflora seeds; not to be confused with actual sunkerns. After thinking about what to limit my choices to, it was the final decision to buy all the options in multiple quantities. Hey, if you're rich enough to get what you want, then do it. Although it may be full of regret later.

Satisfied of my valuable load, my feet moved to face the way I came from, when something caught my gaze. What was that on the floor? Immediately, the priority of going back to Brendan was pushed back to investigate the mysterious object. When I got close enough to analyze, it was revealed to be…. A box of hello panchams. Did somebody drop this? Meh, who cares?! Scoooore!

Very carefully, I tucked the box under my arm. Now to-oh, another one!

Sitting just a few feet away from the pancham shaped treats was another snack container. Not missing a chance, I went for and seized a pack of pop roggenrolas. Cool! Maybe I could dare Brendan to drink some with soda-what's that? Just beyond the pack was yet ANOTHER treat just around the corner. Today must be my lucky day!

In a quick movement, I sprinted around the said corner to where the small waiting area was. Oh, this one was a bag of sour cherrims. Upon picking it up however, I felt my fingers brushing against something else that was hidden underneath. It was- "Chocolat Le Kalos?"

The trap that I unknowingly walked into suddenly sprung. Before anything like escaping could be processed in my head, a hand quickly slapped against my mouth as an arm encircled my waist. I could have fought back, but my hands were currently occupied. The snacks might get messed up if I chose to go on the offensive.

I was immediately pushed against the wall and caged in. And wouldn't you guess? It was the king of schemers himself.

"Well hello my clever little bird: We meet again,"

"….are you wearing khaki shorts?"

My eyes didn't deceive me. Professor Augustine Sycamore was indeed wearing yellowish-brown khaki shorts with leather sandals and a light blue t-shirt. From how his body language was postured it told me that he was pretty uncomfortable. Though now dressed akin to a normal human being, the charming aura was still there.

At questioning the obvious, a malicious smile grew across his face while leaning in closer. "And who pray tell is the one to blame for such a fate? I will have you know: Those were the only set of proper clothes I had," He said with an underlying hint of a spiteful fashion. Still acting like the 'gentleman' he was, that was the all the anger he permitted himself to show.

"That's your own fault! Maybe if you listened to Professor Birch, then you wouldn't be as miserable as you are right now!"

Upon hearing his name, Sycamore frowned with a glare and abruptly snatched the bag of octiyaki bites I reserved for Brendan. Wordlessly, he looked me straight in the eyes, dropped the bag to the floor shortly before crushing it under his foot. The bag exploding with a pop resonated in my ears like an agonizing sound.

"AAAAAAH! YOU BASTARD! I WAS SAVING THOSE!"

"That is what happens when you say such unsightly things. However, I believe further consequences are in order to discipline such an impudent girl like yourself!"

Without any hesitation, Sycamore stole another bag from my bag and dropped it on the floor to be stomped on. Again, the sight and sound of the wicked deed being committed wrenched my heart. He's such a cold-hearted monster! Even the look on his face while he went on destroying my most materialistic desires, displayed immensely cruel joy. I knew he wouldn't stop until there was nothing left.

"No please! Stop it!"

"Too late! Your hot-headed habit of rebelliousness will cost you greatly!"

The horrible professor tried grabbing another bag to ruin, but I hugged them protectively and turned my back on him. Not used to such extreme levels of defiance, snatched me up by the waist and made further attempts to take them from my hold. I think the loss of his normal attire was getting to him.

"Cease this intolerable behavior at-"

He suddenly froze in place with his arm still holding me up. What's with-oh.

I didn't understand at first, but when I lifted up my head to see his vision was directed, my own had widened as we both saw Brendan Birch standing several feet away with a soda bottle in his hand. The ice Pokémon who was with him shrilled in surprise. Not good!

"….what are you two doing?"

"Brendan! I can explain! It's not what it looks like!"

"So it doesn't look like you both are trying to kill each other over snacks?"

Wait a second, he hasn't caught on yet? Oh thank arceus! I could still make up something! Thinking quickly to avoid say suspicious long pauses, my brain managed to come up with a decent excuse. "Actually, we were! Professor Sycamore tried to steal my stuff! He's EVIL!" I declared while wriggling out of the kalosian man's hold. Brendan only stood there in puzzlement. That was when the professor laughed to make the scene less awkward than it was currently playing out.

"Evil?! Oh Miss Maple! I do believe you are quite mistaken! It is most certainly I who is simply taking back what is mine! Do take care to remember who belongs to whom,"

"Isn't it 'what belongs to whom'?"

"Of course! Silly me! Proper phrasing simply continues to escape me!"

 **…**

Eventually, Sycamore had to put me down since Brendan wasn't about to leave for the sake of both of us staying alive. The professor left to sate his interest on the research about the climate areas of interest. Honestly, I'm sure he could care less about any of that; he really wanted some alone time to hatch another mischievous plan. Hah! Good luck with that while I'm with my bestie!

Speaking of him, I shared with Brendan all the remaining snacks from Sycamore's attempts to destroy them. In return, he gave me a bottle of soda to guzzle the junk food down. And while we ate merrily on the waiting room couch, the two of us caught up on what was going on in our lives. Though there was something on my mind that needed to be asked.

"So…'The Birch Squad'…"

"I know huh? It's a pretty cool group name," he replied with a sly grin while leaning back on the couch. No, that sounded like the complete opposite, more like: "Dorky. And very nerdy," My words nearly knocked him out with shock. Wow, did he honestly think that was the most awesomest group name on the face of the planet?

Then he tried to explain that 'brigade' had already been taken. By whom shouldn't have been a surprise, but it was still hard to wrap my head around.

"Wally took the word 'brigade'?"

"Yeah. He calls his team the 'Walnut Brigade' now. It actually has a nice ring to it,"

"You guys calls call yourselves the weirdest things,"

"Look who's talking Miss 'Team Maple'!"

"Hey! That name is cool! I don't see you striking fear into the hearts your enemies with 'The Birch Squad'!"

"Well….Snowcone thinks it's a great name!"

Snowcone? I was confused about knowing who this 'Snowcone' person was. The parents must have hated their child a lot to warrant such an atrocious name.

At the same time, Brendan's ice Pokémon waddled over to him with a bag of sour cherrims. It gave out a shrill and pulled itself onto the couch. It climbed onto his lap. The frozen being briefly turned its body to look at me, and then shrilled again. "See? It doesn't mind one bit,"

"….wait, so you-"

*Nods*

"That is so cruel,"

"Come on May, you need to…CHILL OUT,"

"Okay no. Don't start,"

"You can't give me the COLD SHOULDER already! I thought we were best friends,"

"Not if you wanna keep using those lame puns!"

"Alright, alright. I know when I'm on THIN ICE,"

I was forced to shoot a warning glare at Brendan as a last resort to get him to stop using those unsightly puns. But even though he did so, a smug grin cracked on his face. The son of Professor Birch knew he weaseled in deep enough in our friendship to not receive any real rebukes. He better be grateful about it.

To fully eliminate the topic of puns, I asked Brendan where he got his strange battle partner. As odd-looking as it was, there was still some desire to obtain one. Sadly, it was revealed that Snowcone was the only one of its kind; so to speak. "Sorry May, but the pokédex says that the only regice on this planet is Snowcone. As much as I like you, there's no way I'm letting you seduce it into your wicked ways," He joked while holding the ice golem protectively. The ice-type cooed in its shrilly voice while basking in the affection.

Tempting as it was, guess my chances of completing my pokédex just became zero. Who am I kidding? It was already zero when I didn't capture latias. There's no way Latios would let me. The only option left was to do what other friends do when they want to be cooler; one-up them.

"Oh yeah? Well, that's okay! I got something too!"

I unbuckled my pack and set it on top of my lap for both Brendan and Snowcone to see. My friend gazed at me with curious interest, while his Pokémon's golden dot eyes glowed with excitement.

It was in here somewhere; maybe if I stopped messing up Chirpie's organization of things, I'd find it sooner. You know what? Fuck it! I'm just gonna dump it! So that's what I did. The fact that I was taking so long to rummage through my bag caused my patience to fall flat and ultimately pick up the thing. It was turned upside-down for many items to fall out; including the mega bracelet. Once I had found it, I quickly put it on my wrist and flaunted the thing with an exaggeration of wiggling my fingers that accompanied running my spare hand through my hair.

"Feast your eyes on THIS!" I boasted while holding my 'cool' pose. Brendan had been indeed surprised at seeing the bracelet and took my hand to examine it further. His grip held an admittingly shocking gentleness. It felt calloused from working and training. Very suddenly, heat rushed up to my cheeks. Why was I getting so worked up about Brendan holding my hand? That's what usually happens when Sycamore goes into predator mode and tries to torment me.

"Woah...where did you get this?"

"I...I got it from Steven,"

"Wow...you're finally starting to wear jewelry like a normal girl!"

"Huh?"

"And a guy gave it to you on top of that! Don't tell me you two are dating! Isn't he a little too old for you?"

Aaaaand those good feelings were gone. Angry at the misinterpretation, I snatched my hand back with furious expressions already forming on my face. "I'm NOT dating Steven, and it's not jewelry! It's a mega-bracelet!" Very quickly, I shoved things back into my pack while recovering from the small moment of humiliation. Realizing what was wrong, Brendan awkwardly scratched his head.

"Oh...er...sorry about that. I guess Lisia-chan never rubbed off on you, huh?"

That was debatable.

"Nope! And she'll never get me to be her Contest Spectacular slave. And she won't get the satisfaction!"

*Snickers*

I focused on Brendan with a scowl after the moment of being wrapped up in my declaration. Now, he was trying to hold in a laugh. Snowcone didn't get anything out of the situation, so it got another bag of snacks and tore it open to eat. Meanwhile, I was boring holes into its master.

Brendan at first tried to make a serious look to erase the held in laugh, but that didn't work. He then tried coughing uncontrollably. It only made me glare at him harder. He then tried switching subjects. "So uh, what does your mega-bracelet do?" He asked rather quickly.

Oh, that's right! I never told him how it's supposed to work!

"Mega-bracelets are...well they...actua-"

"Mega-bracelets, dear children, are just one of the many names people give to the objects that megastones are set in. The stones themselves however, are the catalysts for furthering Pokémon beyond their final forms!"

Before the both of us could process it, Professor Augustine Sycamore had already landed on the couch; purposely seated between Brendan and I. A clever arm sat on the head of the couch above me. No doubt he would subtly move it down to have it rest around my shoulders by the end of whatever conversation we would start. Was it not possible for him to willingly leave me alone for ONE day?! There was no end to this suffocation!

With his other arm, he took up my wrist with the mega-bracelet on it. An excited look fell upon his face while he examined the item to authenticate it. "However, not anyone can wield such a thing. One must be an exceptional with a strong will and...other requirements. But it should be no difficult feat for such a powerful trainer as yourself; am I not right Miss Maple?" His ocean blue eyes flicked up from looking at the bracelet to my cerulean pair. Very clearly, I could see the mischievousness that plotted to catch me off guard.

"Yeah, whatever," Was my reply while stealing my arm back. "Now don't you have some nerd things to be doing? Ya know: Stuff that DOESN'T have to do with me?"

While the question was very cold and off-putting, a smile spread across his lips. At the very least, he would be content on belittling my coarseness. "I do, but it would be quite cruel of me to leave without dragging you with me for...further examinatio-UGH!"

In the middle of one his usual long monologues, Sycamore suddenly stopped and I saw a visible shiver creep up to his neck. His eyes widened dramatically along with his smile quickly dropping. That was all thanks to Snowcone being dropped on his lap. The Pokémon wiggled frantically in desperation to be back in it's owner's arms.

"Whoops, sorry professor! This little guy can be slippery sometimes!"

Both Professor Sycamore and I turned our heads to Brendan, who slowly collected his Pokémon from the man's lap. He didn't look the least bit remorseful. "By the way, I was talking with my dad a little while ago, and he says he's gonna be wrapping up his field research pretty soon," He explained while getting another snack and popping it into his mouth.

My face instantly brightened up the second the news left his lips. Of course I'd be excited about that since it meant Professor Birch would resume administrative authority over me; forcing Sycamore to go back into being nothing more than a house guest. Speaking of the kalosian, an innocent smile widened across his face as that arm now around my shoulders almost possessively strangled my neck.

"Is that so? And when does this highly esteemed father of yours come back to grace us all with his presence?"

"Hm, in about three weeks or so. Maybe less if he hurries up. But yeah, you'll be out of those khakis and back in a lab coat in no time. I'm sure you're more than eager to get the terrible May Maple off your hands,"

"HEY!"

I quickly leaned forward to direct a dirty look at my male counterpart. He happily shot me a winning smile. If he thinks I'm not gonna say anything after. Insult, then he's sadly mistaken!

Very swiftly-UGEH!

Oh right, Sycamore's arm was still around my neck. My vision of unpleasantness switched to the troublesome professor, who had no trouble throwing an aipom wrench in my plans for vengeance. "Come now, Mr. Birch, Miss Maple is not quite to coarse as before. In fact, I daresay she has gotten soft since then,"

"I'll say! Especially since she likes to wear hot pi-"

"I'm gonna kill you!"

 **…..**

Hours later, (after I tore myself away from Sycamore's grasp to chase Brendan until we became incredibly exhausted) Brendan and I were playing cards at a previously vacant computer desk. The game was battle, and revenge was mine! Since round one to seven, I dominated Brendan's deck with my advantageously high set of numbers. Like any good sport would do, they encouraged the losing peer for a better game next time. Me on the other hand, laughed maniacally with each delicious victory. Brendan may have looked all cool and composed through it all, but I'm sure he was crying like a baby on the inside! Hah! Even though he shuffled the deck in every round, his set of cards were awful!

Eventually, we abandoned the game to just sit there and finish catching up. Brendan had been doing well by himself, checking on his dad via phone to make sure that he wasn't getting himself into unnecessary trouble. His current Pokémon team consisted of Kippie, Linoone, Masquerain, Pikachu, Flygon and Snowcone. There were a few names I knew about, but didn't get yet. Thankfully, I was assured that they available for capture.

"And by the way, I know I'm kinda an idiot for asking this but, did you wanna hang out again after my dad gets back?"

"Hell yeah! You have NO idea how much I suffered! Believe it or not, you're the only person I've traveled with, that's not weird….aside from Wally. Speaking of Wally, you haven't seen him, have you?"

Bringing up his name brought awkwardness that burdened my chest. I hadn't seen so much as a hint of him since Mt. Chimney. Hopefully, Wally could find it in his heart to forgive me for leaving him; even if it was unwillingly.

"Uh, sorry. It's been a minute since I saw him last. He did talk about going to Meteor Falls while we were at the Contest Spectacular, but we didn't travel together. But you shouldn't worry too much about him. Unlike my dad, Wally can take care of himself pretty well,"

I nearly laughed since Brendan was pretty spot on about his dad's tendencies to attract danger. How he was still in one piece had been beyond me, but I missed that goober. Chirpie probably missed him too. Hmmm…maybe going to see him wouldn't be a bad idea. Well if I did go, I'd hafta deal with one small problem.

"Hey Brendan?" I casually started while habitually messing with my cuticles whenever I wanted something. My friend immediately picked up the cue and perked up. He raised a curious eyebrow that followed with a suspicious "Yeah?" Snowcone by now was snuggled comfortably in his partner's lap.

"I uuuh…I wanted to see if I could go hang out with your dad,"

"Well I don't see why not,"

" I know, but uh, Professor 'high matinence' Sycamore would start making up excuses about going. Seriously, he made us stop at EVERY hotel, Inn and rest stop we could find!"

"Wait, you want me to babysit this guy in your place? I dunno; sounds pretty agonizing. What's in it for me?"

"Seriously?! I'm the one who does the extortion, not you!"

" I'm kidding May. Geez, you should already know that I'd never turn into you. Two May Maple's in existence is something this world couldn't handle,"

"So you'll do it then?"

"Sure. You're gonna let Professor Sycamore know though, right?"

"Yeah, I'll make sure he knows…"

 **-4A.M.-**

I held onto my shoes to each step silent. Putting them on would have undoubtedly made noise against the tile floor. This was shortly after I had folded my blanket and put on the cot I previously slept in. As I performed these tasks, every fiber of my being did everything it could to avoid waking up Brendan.

Anybody with a brain stem knew that I was in the middle of escaping. Thankfully, Brendan and I were granted the resting room with cots while Sycamore had the couch. At first, it was surprising that he didn't put up a fight about our arrangements, but then I remembered he thought I would be all his the next day when Brendan left. Oh well, too bad I forgot to tell him about the change in plans!

When everything was in place and I made sure to cover my tracks, my feet and legs silently carried me across the lab. This was when my heart rate began to shoot up. Not far away from where the entrance was, had been the lobby. This was where the couch and the professor were. Even ONE wrong move would alert him and my escape would fail. So with me nearly holding my breath, I slowly eased to the glass doors, pushed them open and scurried away like a mouse Pokémon.

 **-Later on that morning in the institute-**

Uuuh, my dream is ending. It was a good one too. No imagining myself falling off a cliff or being in Mr. Norman's torture chamber that may or may not be hidden within the basement of his house. This one was abou-GOOD ARCEUS!

My heart nearly punched a hole through my chest when the first thing I saw when my eyes opened was Professor Sycamore's smiling face standing above me. How long has he been next to my cot?! More importantly: Why was he next to my cot?!

The professor in question laughed rather nervously when he noticed that I was awake; like it had been some innocent mistake. Alrighty, not even a few minutes alone with this guy in full consciousness and already he's starting to creep me out. Did May have it this bad? Anyway, once he finished that awkward laugh, Professor Sycamore proceeded to casually divert the weird moment.

"Why good morning Mr. Birch! I trust you had a pleasant night of sleep,"

"…sure…sooo what brings you here into my very personal space?"

"You mean you do not know?! Goodness me! I certainly hope are not, how you children say 'pulling my leg'! There are many things that are beneath my understanding, so speak up, do?"

"I don't really know what you're talking about. Hey May-"

I moved my head over to the side to ask her a question, but stopped when I realized that the cot next to me was empty; save for the folded blanket sitting neatly on top. Oh.

"Uh…" I began again while sitting up this time. "May was supposed to tell you that she was gonna hang out with my dad for a little while and that we're stay together for a bit. Guess she forgot," Although I said it, I'm sure May's intent was less than pure. Though the wasn't exactly book smart, the girl was pretty crafty when she put her mind to it. No doubt I was merely an excuse.

"Really?! She must have quite the soft spot for your old man, how interesting,"

"Actually he's-"

"But enough about that! Get up and prepare yourself, do? It is already so late!"

"Professor, its 6A.M.,"

"And yet your shy friend has already woken up and left! No excuses now! A son of a professor has a reputation to hold up as well!"

Good arceus. Why did I agree to this?

 **-A long while back-**

 _"Aw man! Everything's so soggy!"_

 _I'm not kidding; from head-to-toe, my whole body was soaking wet. The reason? Shooting a gaze at my precious mudskipper daughter might've tipped off any possible onlookers. She may have been adorable, but chasing a wild magikarp while I was hanging onto her for dear life had been unacceptable! Therefore, discipline had to be enforced._

 _After being able to land on an island somewhere in RT. 105, I took action. "Bad Kippie! Bad!" I started reprimanding with a wagging finger while on the shore facing her. Kippie looked like she had been surprised by my scolding. "Don't give me that! I told you a million times not to go all crazy while I'm hanging on! No magikarp bites tonight!"_

 _"GWAAAAAH!"_

 _"No excuses! That was really dangerous And now it'll take forever to get dry!"_

 _Kippie whimpered and gave me those puppy dog eyes. UGH! I hate it when she does that! Her methods of cuteness were nearly irresistible! Must gather…will to…repel my…daughter's cuteness!_

 _"Dw..Dw…DWAAAdwaaaa!"_

 _Aaand now my plans for discipline were instantly thrown out the window. It was nice knowing ya. I'll place some flowers next to your grave next t the tombstone of where my once fiery passion for Jane laid. *Sniffles* I think that one left me a horrific scar._

 _Flustered with myself, I ended up taking put Kippie's ball and pointing it out to put her back in. "Alright missy: I'm letting it slide for now, but we're gonna have a serious talk later on!" With that, she returned to her ball before she could have time to form any more of those manipulating expressions. I bet May didn't have any problems disciplining her team._

 _In attempting to move on, I decided to explore the cave nearby on the small, desolate island my party was on. The area looked interesting enough, plus there was someone I knew who would go nuts over something like this. My hand reached for a camouflage decorated pokeball on my belt and threw it._

 _"Alright Pikachu! Come on out!"_

 _On command, it opened up and released a foot-and-a-half long yellow mouse with scarlet cheeks and vibrant dark eyes. Out of everyone on my team, Pikachu was the most adventurous. As he saw me, the little creature squeaked excitedly, ran up to climb on my pant leg and quickly retreated when he realized how soaked I was._

 _"Sorry buddy, you're goa have to hoof it until I'm dry. But we can go explore that cave over there while we're at it. Whaddya say?"_

 _"*Squeak, squeak!*"_

 _"That's my boy! Let's go!"_

 _And so, my ecstatic battle partner and I made way across the sun scorched sand and entered the small cave for a look around. It's inside was dark and an unusual chill filled the air. Stepping inside a colder area with wet clothes wasn't the greatest idea, but there was something in the back that caught my attention. Squinting my eyes, I managed to see outlines of large stalagmites coming up from the ground. Maybe there might be moon or water stones hidden away in here! Or possibly pearls and stardust! Arceus know I need the money._

 _Pikachu must have seen the same thing, because he shot right in. "Hey, wait up!" I exclaimed while running after him; performing the action wasn't pleasant though. The air got so cold and I could feel the sogginess of my clothes bother me more than it should._

 _When I had been able to finally catch up with the electric-type, he sat under a large tablet on the cave wall. There were dots arranged neatly on the large stone. They were in a pattern an-wait a second! Was this braille? Crap! I don't know how to read this! Maybe if I stared at it hard enoug-nope, still not working. Ugh, why didn't I take braille classes last summer! It would have been much better than economics!_

 _Now frustrated even more at my own undoing, my eyes squinted more at the dot patterns while putting my hands on the stone text. Pikachu observed me as I searched my thoughts about solving this strange mystery. Fortunately, my attention span was a lot longer than my currently traveling buddy, May Maple. Should would have been complaining by now at the two minute mark-what was that?_

 _The concentration of staring at the dot text was immediately put on hold when a wall to my left suddenly opened; spilling out copious amounts of freezing air in the room of the cave. My still wet clothes began to glaze over with frost. Okay, now would be a good time to do the smart thing and step outside where it's warmer. Every part of my (and Pikachu's) instinct happily agreed to comply with such a request…until the opened wall to my left suddenly shined q cross figure of golden dots in its darkness._

 _Suddenly, the whole cave filled with a terrible shrieking shrilling sound. Woah, that's no good. Even my usually bold Pikachu became very anxious. A mighty rumble started shaking the ground; eventually realizing that the odd phenomenon was uncomfortably consistent to footsteps. They didn't stop until the being responsible now towered over us with its great golden spheres staring down at Pikachu and I._

 _Judging by the appearance of a giant ice block and how fast my clothes were freezing up, I'd say it was an ice-type. This thing overshadowed me by four feet with a width of a snorlax; a full one._

 _Ya know, I never heard about any Pokémon like this. What if it was a new species? *Gasp* Wait! The old-looking braille text objectively suggests that its ancient! Man dad'll be so stoked when I tell him-"*Squeak, squeak!"_

 _Pikachu's squeaking of alarm grounded me back to reality just in time to witness it raise its arms. Oh boy, that's not good. Fortunately, we had enough sense to practically fly out of the way to avoid getting pounded to pieces._

 _As both of us gained enough space between the titan, my electric-type stood in front of me to prepare for battle. Logically speaking, Flygon would be a better match because of his fire-based attacks. However, there were a few surprises my yellow mouse had up his sleeve._

 _"Okay Pikachu! Show em' why The Birch Squad is the best!"_

 _My battle partner squeaked excitedly and ran swiftly towards the large ice golem. His scarlet cheeks emitted bright white electricity while dashing, and he didn't stop until he tackled the beast square in its torso. Alright! A perfect hit! If he kept hitting like that, then we'll-_

 _My Pikachu hit point blank in its chest, but there wasn't any reaction. Even when it was revealed that he left a small crater, no signs of pain or grimace were on its….'features'. Good arceus, that is some thick ice!_

 _I was so busy fixating on the impressive defense, that I wasn't paying attention to the titan raising its arms again. In a flash, it swung and smacked Pikachu with a terrible force against the wall. The crater it left was enormous!_

 _Now I regretted not having Flygon take the stage when I had the chance. If I tried switching now, that thing would definitely stomp, freeze and/or pulverize me to death! For all my battle strategy prowess, it was stupidly drowned by pride! Dad would be all over this mess with what I did wrong; not to mention how I idiotically walking into a freezing cold cave with wet clothes on! I wish I didn't do things that were essentially dumb! If only my Pikachu had some sort of attack that was effective against-wait a minute, he does!_

 _The second my head turned, a set of golden dots along with a chilling aura was now only inches away from me. There were plenty of times I had been in close encounters with wild Pokémon. My since faded scars had instilled me not t directly provoke them. In this case, just stepping into the cave was more than enough to make it mad._

 _The ice golem raised its arms again to beat me into nothingness. At least, that's what it wanted to do if it wasn't so slow! Very quickly, I dodged the attack to go in-between its legs and-oh no!_

 _While I was performing the action, my arm got stuck on one of its legs in mid roll; quickly stopping me from making my cool escape. So essentially, my body was laid out flat on the cold, icy floor with the top half of my vision seeing the giant looking down at me. Since I was now at its mercy, the only option left was to bargain with it._

 _Using my free arm, I desperately fished into my pack and pulled out a couple of small berries. Very carefully, they were held out for the golem to see._

 _"H-here! It's not much, but they're really good! Try some!"_

 _The ice-type looked at them curiously. Okay he's taking them._

 _"Yeah, see! I have plenty more if you let us go! A lot more!"_

 _It played with the fruits between its stubby fingers. After a minute of toying with them, they suddenly froze in a block of ice and were horribly crushed in its might. I watched with sickening terror as bits of crushed, frozen fruit fell onto the floor. Guess bargaining was out. The creature then reached down to grab me with icy stubs; stubs that could freeze anything it touched._

 _In this moment, I was pretty sure death had only been a touch away…if its arm didn't suddenly get sliced off and fall to the ground. We were piecing together what had just happened, when a piece of it (specifically the leg I was stuck on) had also gotten cleanly cut off. Of course that didn't sit well with the ice golem as it shrieked angrily, but I was completely with staying alive and ran for safety. Part of its leg was still stuck on my arm, weighing me down. The giant reached out for me, only to have his other arm cut off by Pikachu._

 _There was no mistaking it. My electric mouse was now out of the large crater on all fours in an offensive position. His tail stood upright and glowed brightly. This was the 'effective' attack I was talking about: Pikachu's iron tail. Since he's vulnerable to rock and ground-types, I thought it would be a smart idea to teach him a steel-type move to defend himself with. My decision paid off in unexpected ways._

 _With my battle partner up and ready to fight back, I distanced myself away from them to observe the fight. Our wild foe gave out the body language of being furious while trying to reform its limbs. Clearly Pikachu and I weren't gonna sit around and wait for it to finish._

 _"Alright Pikachu, use your iron tail and cut that thing down to size!"_

 _Now I wasn't suggesting something cold-blooded like murder; more like literally cutting it down to a size where it can't bring us to an instant death. Call it disfigurement, but it's either that or finding a way to send Flygon out and melt the golem into a puddle. I'd prefer not to ruin a good thing._

 _And so, the fight was on. Pikachu squeaked agreeably before taking off in another mad dash towards the ice giant. With is tail alight, Pikachu swiped his tail against hard, glittering ice. Not surprisingly, a neatly sliced chunk came off to shatter upon hitting the floor. It fought had to land a hit, (despite its recent lack of reach) but since was more faster and on guard, the task was deemed fruitless. I also made sure to avoid monstrous parts of ice debris as it flew in all directions._

 _Pikachu battled as hard as he could until the ice golem had been reduced by five-and-a-half feet. By now, it looked more adorable than threatening; time to catch it. Getting a pokeball out, I threw it right for the target….only for the object to completely miss. Man that was a terrible try! Alright, no problem. I can use another-WHAT?! AGAIN?! What happened to my aim today?!_

 _My battle partner could only look in confusion while being a spectator of frenzied attempts to capture a weakened Pokémon. One after the other, I threw them like a maniac. Each one kept missing their mark. I could blame my horrible accuracy on the large ice leg still attached to my arm, the cold environment or traumatic near-death experience. I just wasn't ready to admit how much I was sucking that day._

 _But just as it seemed like capturing it was nothing but a fleeting dream, the ice Pokémon suddenly got pulled into one of the balls I threw. My breath was instantly stuck in my throat. The Pokémon was in; its ball twitching sporadically until-*click*!_

 _It was all over._

 _"Aaaaaaaaalright! Mission accomplished!"_

 _"*Squeak, squeak!"_

 _We both went towards the ball; scrambling to it like madmen. Pikachu (of course) got to it first. He held it between his paws in fascination while sniffing the object. When I finally caught up, he relieved the ball to me. Oh? This was the great ball May and I got in Petalburg Woods. I always knew it would come in handy someday. Now all that's left to do was give it a name. For such a fight it put up, it deserves one at least._

 _"Hmmm…how about we name it…Mr. Freeze!"_

 _"*Squeak*!"_

 _"Okay fine! What about Mr. Softee?"_

 _"*Squeeeak, squeak!*"_

 _"Alright already! Geez, you don't hafta get so bent outta shape…..wait, wait! I got it! How about-"_

 *** To be continued in Chapter 29***


	29. Chapter 29

Fortree City: The city of treehouses and home to the Gymleader of flying-types, Winona. Even though it was supposed to be a city, it was a refreshing change for it to look like the countryside. The smell of wood filled my nose. In the air, humidity hung heavily to stick to any of the city's inhabitants and travelers. What really stuck out for me, were all the pine treehouses connected by wooden bridges. From shops to homes, that's where all the buildings were…oh wait, not all of them. Well… the gym was the only place where people had to enter on the ground. Its inside consisted of standard gym trainers and various methods of getting closer to the leader. The only specific difference with this place is that you had to start at the bottom and work your way up. When I did just that, my reward was being able to battle with my father's colleague, Winona.

Being a flying-type master, Winona stood NO chance against me! Why? Because of my advantageous attack-type Pokémon, Mightyena and her ice fang! Well, I let my other partners join in too, so it wouldn't be too unfair. As it turns out, I still overpowered her. Thankfully, her gracefulness and whatnot didn't make her bitter about losing, and awarded me the Featherbadge. Apparently, this badge allowed my Pokémon to fly me regardless of their size or my weight.

Sweet! Now to get one of my teammates to learn it! Hmmm….looks like Pelipper was the only candidate since everyone else had no wings or wasn't designed to fly so high. Okay, let's see how we do this.

"WAAAH! PELIPPER! DOWN! I WANT DOWN NOW!"

The difference between latias flying me and Pelipper flying me, was speed. Since Latios' sister went at terrifyingly fast speeds, there wasn't too much too much to be afraid of. Flying with Pelipper however, was slow enough for me to see everything below. Basically all the things I could possibly LAND ON if I fell. I think I'll stick to walking for now, thank you.

Now back on the ground with Dustox at my side, I was ready to continue my journey! Dustox had been especially glad to be out. She flitted about from tree-to-tree; stopping only for a few minutes to chew on the bark from the pine trees. Meanwhile, I was literally in over my head with tall grass. Nearly hiding my if not for the bow of my bandana sticking out. Man I was so short.

* * *

Many hours in the tall grass made great training for Dustox and allowed me to further my pokedex closer to almost perfect completion. We would stop outside of the tall grass every now and then to break for snacks. Unlike the rest of our team, Dustox didn't eat human food. Instead, she enjoyed to chew on white towels and….bright-colored socks. An odd appetite, but whatever makes her happy.

When we finished our snack breaks, the journey resumed with happier stomachs along with renewed willpower. The latter especially came in handy when a "Hey kid!" and an "Over here!" suddenly echoed in my ears. My head quickly turned to focus on the source of the noise. Oh boy, them again. In terms of what I mean in 'them', it translated to the news crew duo, Gabby and Ty. Man, what did they want from me this time? I was still feeling plenty sour from them filming my actions at Mt. Chimney and broadcasting it to the public where my dad could see it. Well I guess I shouldn't be too sore about it.

Since they already identified me, there had been no other option than to go and see what they wanted. The rest of me turned in their direction and marched forward.

"Oh hey, what's up?" I asked; pretending to be excited upon noticing them. As I came close enough for a proper social interaction, I quickly picked up that Ty had his camera pointed directly at me. This wasn't gonna be a quick conversation, was it?

"There's our favorite hot, awesome trainer! How's it going, kid?" asked Gabby with a fiery vigor. Her microphone thrusted eagerly into my face. Oh no, not a professional interview! Those media vultures! Was there no end to their shame?!

I was prepared to make a face, when I remembered every action being made would be viewed by everybody in the region. If there's anyone wondering why I didn't ask to not be filmed, trust me, Gabby ALWAYS finds a way. She once showed me all the secret interviews she obtained through many mini cameras; it was pretty disturbing. Might as well get this over with.

" Alright, I guess,"

"Awesome! Any recent crime-bustin' you've been doing? You seem to do that pretty well,"

"No! Nothing like that! Just uh…just doing regular training and stuff,"

"EURGH, that's incredibly boring! How about we battle to see if you've got stronger. Ty and I are dying to see our favorite trainer in action!"

"Interesting, as am I,"

Gabby, Ty and I heard another person that was not only close by, but had a mighty need to enter our conversation. Coincidentally synchronized, we moved our heads to lay eyes on a calm Steven Stone. What's he doing here?! I thought he was way ahead of me after that Southern Island rescue mission.

While I was certainly surprised, Gabby and Ty looked bewildered at the very sight of him. Couldn't really blame them if they already knew what to expect from Steven. Speaking of which, he walked over to us for the want of merry company.

"Y-you!" Gabby blurted out unexpectedly while nearly tripping over herself to come towards him. Eh? As weird as Steven was, it's a wonder why anybody normal would WANT to delve into any interaction with him. Or maybe I'm just the crazy person here. Wait, who am I kidding? Gabby was the one who had her personality and occupation going against her in the world of normal social activity.

"Aren't you….out here and-"

"I'm just enjoying my time off. Being cooped up in a building isn't very appealing to me. I prefer to get out when I can help it. But the real star of your show looks like she's being neglected,"

My face went blank from the confusion of what was transpiring. Gabby let out a surprised laugh and hooked her free arm around my shoulder before reeling me in like a fish Pokémon. "Her? Noooo! Even you can't steal the spotlight from this one!" She boasted while bringing me in close. NGH! I hated being pulled around like this. Steven smiled slyly at her response.

"Is that so? She must be very talented,"

"Actually, that's an understatement; this kid is gifted! You know she took on Team Magma TWICE?! She doesn't even break a sweat in those battles!"

"I could only imagine. I was just here to see how strong your favorite trainer has gotten; if you don't mind,"

"Hey, it's no problem! You don't mind, right kid?"

" I guess…."

"Good! But I gotta warn ya, she makes it a pretty short battle!"

This was a little strange for me. To the extent of my knowledge, Steven Stone was just a traveler/ unhealthy rock enthusiast. For him to be known by a news crew AND have a job sounded super weird to me. Then again, Professor Birch was obsessed with getting me to be Brendan's girlfriend. He must be a famous desk jockey or ( What I heard from those Magma grunts) he was some sort of celebrity shut-in. Anyway, Gabby and Ty cued up their equipment, while I readied myself for another interview battle.

* * *

"Guuah!"

"Wrruuff!"

"Nanabs!"

"Hm, that's good! You got all that?"

"Yeah, but nanabs? Can't you think of anything to say, kid? I don't wanna waste my energy holding heavy camera equipment for 'nanabs',"

After the very short interview battle, I stood there with Dustox on my head and Mightyena brushing against my leg while the news crew of two inquires us about the experience. Gabby held her microphone close to my face for a 'quote of the day'. There wasn't much that came to mind other than the fruit I ate for breakfast this morning. Ty's urging forced me to think of what else to say. Racking my head for a few more minutes allowed my brain to come up with something better.

"Supercalafragalisticexpealadoc-"

"Okay, just stick to nanabs!"

"Perfect! I've got a good feeling about this! We gotta go now, but keep up the great work! Bye!"

With that, news reporter, Gabby along with cameraman Ty made their exit towards the route I, myself would follow. Right now though, there was still Steven to interact with (Judging how interested he looked in talking with me). He eagerly stepped forward with a flamboyant aura to imitate what people would call a greeting. I swear I could feel those imaginary sparkles repeatedly hitting me in the face.

"I must congratulate you on your success thus far. And judging by where we are, it's no secret that you've already obtained your Featherbadge," He complimented with dramatic expressions and animated hand movements. Usually my responses remained bland as possible in continued attempts to balance things out. "Yeah, it was easy. You collecting more rocks out here?" Crap, I shouldn't have asked that.

In that moment, Steven's eyes glittered with excitement at the question. Faster than a speeding bullet, the man fished into hid pocket and pulled out several more vibrant, colorful rocks; one of them being an orange-red looking marble. The middle having a scarlet crest design. Yaaay, more time wasted on talking about rocks. Can't wait.

"Most definitely, Miss May!" He began with an ecstatic tone. "I found some peridot earlier along with jasper! Although I did buy some artificial bismuth not too along ago. However, there was something that pertains especially to you; please hold out your hand,"

Steven was a weird character no doubt, but he wasn't shady unlike 'some people' were….SYCAMORE! So I wasted no time stretching out my arm to him. He too put his own arm forward and carefully placed the orange-red marble on my palm. I stared curiously at it.

This stone, Miss May, is called 'blazekinite'. When a blazekin holds it, and its owner possesses a megastone, it…well, I believe that's something you should experience first hand,"

"Oh. Well uh…thanks,"

Wow, this was a pretty interesting item to come by. Chirpie will definitely investigate something like this; although he might need to get a holder for it since he couldn't just hang onto it during a battle. But there was a wonder that had been in my head since Mt. Chimney. What exactly does a megastone do? In a general sense, I couldn't have asked a more stupider question. But given how much information was obtained by yours truly, all that had been known to me was that a few Pokémon could evolve past their final forms. How it had eluded me for a while until Steven showed up to fill me in a little. Ugh, I wish he could tell me EVERYTHING about it instead of being so secretive.

I unzipped my bag and put the blazekinite inside. " I would love to talk with you more, but I'm afraid our conversation must be cut short. There is another mineral in my possession that I must tend to. In that, I bid you adieu," He concluded with a polite bow. Geez, did he have to say it French? Whatever, just say 'bye' and get it over with.

"Okay, see you around,"

"Likewise. I look forward in seeing you develop,"

"What?"

"I said 'I look forward in seeing you develop',"

"…."

"Your skills, Miss May,"

"OH! Right, right. See ya!"

* * *

Mt. Pyre: A place that I've never felt so uncomfortable going to. Why? Well a whole mountain dedicated to death wasn't very pleasant sounding in the least bit. Okay, maybe I'm getting a little anxious. I mean, it was sorta akin to the memorial tower in Lavender Town, Kanto. A first and last experienced to be desired as a small child.

The mountain was one huge grave site for Pokémon. People from all over came to this place to pay their respects. Professor Birch: Why did you hafta do your ultra important research here?! Let's just get this over with.

Taking a deep breath, I hopped off the pier and onto my waiting Pelipper- "GOOD ARCEUS!"-SPLASH!

*Sighs* Yeah, I jumped off the wrong spot. We can just skip to later on.

 **-Later on-**

So later on when I finally reached the small island where the mountain was, I withdrew Pelipper once my feet were firmly on the pier. Giving just the harbor a once over had already creeped me out a little. Fog covered most of the wooden, man-made creation. In the radius of my vision, gloomy foliage that had been tall enough to poke out of the eerie mist bowed their tops in eternal misery. Oh boy! What a way to start! I sure as hell wasn't gonna trek this alone!

"Come out Chirpie!"

I threw out his ball, and in a swift morphing of light, out came my trusty companion. He blinked warily while already surveying the area. The mountain itself didn't put him on edge; only the dense fog that handicapped his excellent vision made Chirpie more alert than usual.

Upon seeing my small form, he knelt down a motioned me to get on his back. Alright! Don't mind if I do! Very quickly, I scrambled onto him with arms securing themselves around his feathered neck. "Okay Chirpie," I announced to the fire-fighter. "Onward to the professor! To the top!"

My battle partner gave out a squawk of agreement and began his walk. In his previous forms, Chirpie used to run almost everywhere he went. As a blazekin, he kept a slow pace when our current situations could afford it.

During the walk, I kept looking at my surroundings despite the fact that it was similar to the harbor; foggy with gloomy vegetation. Just being here for a few minutes made my skin, hair and clothes damp with moisture. Beyond the occasional, distant cry of a wild Pokémon and grass crunching under Chirpie's talons, it was quiet. Thank goodness I didn't try to go at night or else I'd be having panic attacks every second I took a breath!

W eventually reached the entrance of the mountain; a large cave opening with distant flickering of small torches attached to its walls. According Brendan, the professor was at the top, and all we had to do is pass through the cemeteries. How convenient. Not that I'm scared of cemeteries or anything, but considering its location combined with the atmosphere, well, I'm sure Chirpie's presence will make the situation less tense.

I was still on my battle partner's back when he walked in. The darkness wasn't as dark as my imagination made it out to be; therefore making easier on my thoughts on our welfare. To top it off, Chirpie only had to walk a few minutes until we were literally able to see a light at the end of the tunnel. Hahaha….see its funny because I know we're not dead….I'm 99.999% sure.

Anyway, we reached the end and found ourselves in the lobby area of the mountain; a.k.a the first level of three cemeteries. Thankfully, they kept it well lit as to not scare the hell outta visitors with many large torches and candles. And while its ceiling remained a cavernous origin, neat, polished marble tiles lined the floor. Hundreds of grey tombstones lined up in rows with a few people standing next to them. A small, lobby desk claimed its own space and a set of stairs leading to the next level. Not bad.

"….Maple…."

Shit, what was that?!

"…..Maaaaple…."

My head suddenly turned upon hearing my last name whispered in the air that lingered weakly for a short moment. Okay, that was weird. Maybe I'm freaking myself out too much…..at this exact second.

"…Maaaaaaaaple…."

"Okay, who's saying that?! Was it you Chirpie?!" My finger pointed discriminately at the firebird as I quickly faced him. He looked puzzled by the accusation. Oh right, he can't speak pokéspeak.

My head turned again with nervous disappointment when I saw it. Just several feet from us, was a floating grey robed figure. Of course not all of it was hidden from view. No, the bleached skull with glowing red lights for eyes was out for everybody and their mother to see! This thing was about the size of Chirpie when he used t be a torchic. Still, I couldn't help but be a little uncomposed about it coming closer.

"….MAAAAAPLE!"

"G-GET BACK! I'M WARNING YOU!"

"…MAAAAAAPLE SYRUP!"

The thing came up, phased right through me and went on its way. It turns out later that, that particular duskull (a ghost-type) used to be a heracross who loved maple syrup. As for me, I reacted just as normal as anybody would expect.

 **"AAAAAAAAH!AAAAAAAAAHHHH! $ :#* &%+D:$/#!" **

My body dropped to the floor like dead weight, retracted in a fetal position and began rolling around as if I was on fire. Chirpie remained unfazed as he watched me break down and swear. Some people nearby also spectated, but with more understanding.

"Poor dear. This must be her first time in Mt. Pyre,"

* * *

When I ran out of energy from all that rolling around, Chirpie picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. He knew it was gonna take some time for me to recover. We went upstairs to the second floor, where it was pretty much the same except for a couple of gaping holes in the ground. Geez, one wrong move and we'll be going splat at the bottom.

But potential falls weren't the only thing to be wary of. The entire cemeteries were infested with duskulls and the occasional shuppet. Some were bold enough to follow Chirpie around with collective interest. It unnerved me so as they tagged along. I shooed them away with my loud voice, but the firebird didn't care if I got rid of them or not.

Eventually, we made it to the final level where there was a much smaller plot of tombs; only they were much grander. Oh I get it. Rich people tombs. Dam, they were fancy.

After moseying through ( and admittingly admiring their complex splendor) the last cemetery level, we eventually came back outside and saw a much less uncomfortable scenery. The fog here was light and warm as if it had still been morning. The greenery had been more scarce, but at least wasn't gloomy looking. Rugged terrain was what mostly covered the area; and it was time to climb it.

Fortunately, I regained enough energy to climb up all those steep steps cut out in the bronze colored earth. Along the way, I caught Pokémon native to the area that HASN'T died. It was refreshing considering how long I was inside that mountain. Guess Professor Birch was right to come here; for his research of course.

Chirpie and I reached the top of the stairs when our eyes caught the last thing we expected: A ruins. My vision widened with wonder as I looked upon the remains of a human civilization. There looked to be a handful of homes or wooden shrines that had broken down from their former glory. They looked like they were made from clay. Aside from that, strange drawings the color of mud decorated their outside walls. Funny, the depictions of Pokémon, wind water and earth felt very familiar. I'm sure I've seen it somewhere-"*Squawk*!"

Chirpie's cry of alarm broke into my thoughts. He noticed something up ahead. Then without warning, he grabbed me by the arm and took off. I was thankful that the fire/ fighting type was at least considerate of my fragile form, lest I end up with one less arm. The two of us continued on until we reached a part of the ruins that had been in complete shambles. While the mess itself wasn't new, a small, triangular tent set up next to it certainly was. Movement started to occur inside it, and then its front flap unzipped. Out stepped a man who had made the start of my journey possible; the father of my bestie. Also known as –

"Professor Birch!"

"Oh?! May is that you? And is that-"

"YES!"

Without mercy, I lunged for the big man armed with a squeezing hug. My limbs wrapped around his soft, pudgy torso as far as they could upon contact. The goofy professor stumbled back with surprise for a moment before laughing excitedly and hugged back. Even Chirpie, who had started to act more stoic and reserved, moved over to us both to casually attempt to receive some sort of affection.

"Oh my gosh! This can't be the same May Maple I know! She looked smaller and angrier when I left! Now she's a little taller and less prone to violence!" He joked when we finally separated. A friendly hand ruffled my hair. Oh he had no idea. I still had my moments and wouldn't outwardly admit it, but yeah: My thirst for violence as well as the need to punch boys had significantly dropped. Brendan largely played a role in that.

"Its…really good to see you again professor," I started while fixing my hair. "I got a lot stronger AND have six badges! Chirpie helps out me out too, but he acts like a dad sometimes!" Of course my battle partner heard the comment, but chose not to say anything. Times like these were very precious, but he would plan to get me later where it hurt the most: My snacks. Birch laughed even more at the statement.

" He's probably making sure that his one and only trainer doesn't get into too much trouble. He most likely sees you as a little kid now,"

"…really?"

" Well, it depends on the kind of trainer raising the Pokémon and their own personality. Some act like kids, while some grow mature and serious. But speaking of trainers and Pokémon, how's Brendan been treating you?"

"Okay I guess. I haven't seen him much aside from Verdanturf Town Meteor Falls and the Weather Institute. He said something about finding special Pokémon on a list you gave him,"

The second that statement came from out of my mouth, Professor Birch's happy expression quickly dropped. What replaced it, had been puzzled frustration that follow a heavy sigh. It was the first time that I saw the professor so upset. For me, it felt outta place, so you couldn't blame me for being concerned. "Professor? I asked a little hesitantly. " Are you….okay?"

"Hm? Oh, I'm fine! It's just that boy,"

"What boy? Where is he?! You want me to beat him up?!"

"It's alright, it's alright! I'm only talking about my boy. Sometimes, he's too smart for his own good,"

Professor Birch twiddled his thumbs and let out a nervous laugh. That was weird. "So…what did he do?" I inquired with a raised brow. Hearing even a hint about Brendan doing something wrong really sounded off, considering he hasn't intentionally messed up in terms of decision-making yet. That would be the equivalent to purposely putting salt in the cake batter and think it would taste delicious.

"Well…." He started while wandering a few inches away. "He was supposed to be traveling with you and Professor Sycamore the whole time,"

….what?

Considering the kind of statement that came out of his mouth, my face had been rightly justified when it suddenly twisted into confusion. Chirpie meanwhile, wasn't interested in the content of our conversation, so he went to explore part of the ruins in fascination. I however, was left to comprehend his words.

"Wait a second, Brendan told me that you gave him a specific list of Pokémon to study. How was he supposed to be with Professor Sycamore and I?"

" A list that correlates with the same path of your journey. But it's not like it mattered anyway; all those Pokémon that were on there had already been studied. I just hoped that his teenage instincts would kick in and loaf around with you. Geesh, that boy must have gotten impatient and skipped around,"

"WHAT?! I can't believe you! Brendan got so excited because he thought he was helping you out! How could you do that to him?! Hold on, why did you even do that in the first place?! You could have just told him to come with us in the beginning!"

This was awful! Poor Brendan looked so excited when he told me about spending hours observing a shroomish's sleep habits! I couldn't begin to imagine how heart-broken he would be if he found out that it was all for nothing!

"Well I….uh, didn't think about it at first. But when I got here with him, I realized that he's pretty smart, but doesn't have to grow up too fast! I mean look at him: sixteen years and no friends or girlfriend? That's the kind of recipe that makes someone lose their means of communication with other people as an adult! Pokémon are amazing creatures, but even the best can't substitute the power of human relationships. Plus I was afraid that he might grow up to be a bachelor with obsessive stalking issues,"

"Oh you have no idea,"

"But more importantly, there's no other person I'd rather have him spend the rest of his life with, than a girl like you,"

Uh, he does know that his best friend/ my father is still looking for ANY excuse to kill him on sight, right? Actually, I think he's well aware of that. I'm sure Professor Birch is more likely to orchestrate an elopement if the situation allowed him to go that far. Good arceus, I hope not. Besides, I'll never date/marry anyone as long as I live! There would have to be brain damage in my head in order for that to happen!

"Errr…whatever you say…"

"Good! But aside from that, how's Professor Sycamore treating you?"

Hell on earth. Like the devil incarnate. My endless tormentor who refused me both rest and mercy. Evil in the form of a human! He's evil, Professor Birch! Completely, unregrettably EVIL! You made a terrible mistake about putting him with me! Not even dad can faze this guy! What did I do in my life to deserve such torture?!

"Okay I guess,"

Wait, that's not what I wanted to say! Take it back, you moron! Take it back before something else happens-"*Squawk*!"

Our conversation was interrupted when Chirpie's cry rang out in alarm. The both of us turned suddenly in the direction where he was, to see a Team Magma grunt jump into view and attempt to run past us. What the hell is a Magma nerd doing in a place like this?! Hm, weird or not, I'm gonna find out.

Waiting for the right moment, I stuck out my leg just as he prepared to pass us. He tripped unceremoniously with his face impacting the dirt. My sadistic thirst for violence (as I said before) wasn't entirely quenches, so you don't have to imagine what occupied my thoughts as I pulled the man up to his feet and turned him around. I immediately gripped the front of his sweater onsie. "Well lookie here; it seems that I caught a Team Magma nerd. I wonder how many times I can punch your face in before your face changes into different colors!"

"No please!"

"May, what are you doing?!"

Professor Birch took the thug unexpectedly from my grasp and dusted him off. HUH?! Why was he being nice to a lowlife criminal?! Did he turn to a life of crime?! That would explain his nefarious plans to get Brendan and I together.

"Professor, what gives?! I just wanna beat him until he tells me what Team Magma's up to and take his wallet!"

" What are you talking about? This young man right here is part of the geological research team on Mt. Pyre,"

Okay, so maybe he wasn't much of a mastermind as I initially thought. He just happened to like playing a devious matchmaker. But let's focus on the new task at hand: Getting the bird to sing. I quickly snatched back the shaken grunt before applying a hearty punch to his face. Chirpie intercepted any protests from the professor by standing in his way.

"Alrighty, here's what I'm gonna do: If I hear anything else aside from where Maxie is and what he's up to, I'll personally play dentist and punch out all those teeth you can check in for the tooth clefairy!"

"May! Didn't you hear me?! He works for the geologica-"

"OKAY, OKAY! I'll tell ya!"

The outburst of surrender from the grunt surprised Professor Birch, as he looked at my captive with new eyes. Geez, I can't believe he was duped in the first place. Come on, man! How did they even LOOK like geologists?! Anyways, back to my duties. Another punch to the face was aimed at the grunt to get him started.

Not even an hour passed when he finished telling me what Team Magma had plotted. Apparently, Maxie heard about some local legend and discovered that there were two artifacts connected to the story on top of Mt. Pyre. Okay two things. One: Maxie was a total nerd, why would he waste his time on something like that? Two: I'm sure meeting him here would be inevitable; fighting was unavoidable. Protecting Professor Birch might be a little hard. Well, there's no time to worry about that now.

I dropped the grunt (with his wallet in my hand) and made sure he left the mountain instead of going to warn his boss. The professor looked pretty dumbfounded and just stood there. "Yo Professor!" I waved my hand rapidly to get him out of his stupor. " We gotta go! No time to waste!" . Chirpie helped him over to my side.

"I-I don't understand. He said they were the geological survey team. They even explained to me how their thermonuclear heating process works,"

"Don't beat yourself up about it. I'm just glad they didn't try to take you hostage or something. That would've been a big mistake,"

"Well that's true. Still, they seemed like nice people. One of them even complimented my scandals,"

"Yeah, okay! Stop talking about it!"

I really didn't have the patience or the maturity to deal with his talk about being chummy with the enemy. Meanwhile, the three of us all began our speedy ascent to Mt. Pyre's top. Along the way, several Magma grunts were encountered, passed and skipped. It was for the sake of time that battles with small fry had to be avoided. But that didn't mean they didn't care about us. I'm pretty sure Professor Birch and I were trailing a small handful of Maxie's minions behind us.

"*Pant, pant* How long…..do we…..have to keep…..running?!"

"Just…..until we…-there he is!"

Speeding up the steps with our thighs feeling like they were on fire, the torment had paid off when we were able to finally reach the peak and see the slim, plotting figure with flaming red hair. It was a good thing too, because Professor Birch looked like he was on the verge of collapsing. I pushed my legs into overdrive and forcibly ran ahead to confront the villain. "Stop…..s-stop right…..Magma….okay….I said stop!" Once I was able to slow down and catch my breath, I had to pace myself before proper sentences finally came back to me.

The top of the mountain was blanketed in smooth earth that had a, small clay wall around the little area in a rectangular shape. Within the perimeter had been a beaten up, wooden shrine. The structure itself wasn't much to look at first glance, but a double take revealed two sparkling gems inside.

These gems weren't the standard kind you'd find in a jewelry store, but the ones that would be in adventure movies. Both were about the size of my fist and shaped like an egg; and that was about the only things they had in common. One of them was a deep ocean blue with a strange, faded symbol embedded inside it. The second gem was a vibrant crimson color with another shaped inside.

And it was that gem, that was now in Maxie's hands.

Aside from the shrine, was an old couple who looked like they lived here. They were off to the side and blocked by….good arceus, tell me that's not-dam it is Courtney. I couldn't see the Magma admin's expressionless face, ( and frankly, I'm pretty glad for that) but given her yellow horned Magma uniform was proudly shone as bright as day, I didn't have to make too many guesses. I was able to see fear in the old couple's eyes, but for some reason, I had this feeling that the fear wasn't because of her or the immediate danger; it was for something else.

"My, what an unexpected surprise. To what do I owe the pleasure of my number one fan?"

Ugh, what an ego-bloated jerk! If I wasn't so out of breath, I'd go knock his glasses in!

"Oh and what's this? Professor Albert Birch? We meet again. I do apologize for that silly misguided girl dragging you into quite the mess. She seems to have a knack for sticking her nose where it doesn't belong,"

"Not at all! She's a little hot-headed like her dad, but this girl's gonna be my future daughter-in-law for sure!"

"Focus Professor!"

"Oh right, sorry!"

My gaze was briefly fixated on him with a glare that assured unhappy consequences for acting friendly with the enemy. Professor Birch let out a nervous laugh that accompanied a half-hearted shrug.

"Hm, daughter-in-law you say?" Maxie repeated as he boldly stepped closer to us. Like a fierce animal, I lunged to attack; only the assault had been stopped with an act of humiliation. An effortless hand to the forehead held me at bay. Still, the very sight of him provoked me to throw as many punches as I could. Although none of them hit their mark.

"I can only pity the poor soul who has to be forced to be bound in matrimony with this uncouth child. But I think there's a more pressing question to be answered,"

Using the hand he was holding me with, he abruptly pushed me hard and fast enough to where I stumbled back. Professor Birch was able to catch me before I could have fell down the stairs. Chirpie immediately jumped in front of us; and then moved off to the side when a cookie was thrown in that direction. How embarrassing.

"What would Professor Birch think of your infidelity with another scientist? If it was me, such treachery would be heart-breaking,"

Huh? Was he talking about-

"What?! You've been seeing other professors?! How could you, May?! You're like a daughter to me!"

"He's talking about Professor Sycamore! And you're the one who put him with me!"

"Oh! Right, right….so to clarify-"

"I'M NOT!"

By now, my entire face was red with anger. Stupid Maxie instigating fights; and stupid Professor Birch for being dumb enough to believe anything he said. I shuffled furiously back into balance with thoughts aimed at another attempt to maul the Magma boss. Instead, I came face-to-face with Courtney. Her emotionless features blankly stared right back at me. Of course, the admin's presence nearly caused my body to jump out of its skin. But Maxie?! Where did he go?!

I quickly scanned the area until it found its mark just off to the side. Off the path of the stairs with the gem still in hand.

"I hate to leave, but there are places I have to be, plans to make and people's faces to rub my victory in. Please allow Courtney to entertain you in my stead. Until we meet again, child,"

At this point, my blood was boiling and threatening to erupt from my veins. Just as I prepared to jump after him, a hand effortlessly latched onto my shirt to prevent me from performing the violent action. It was no surprise who was responsible. The hand then threw me to the opposite side where Maxie was; making me roll downhill on Mt. Pyre's rocky soil. Shit, this stuff was uncomfortable.

"…..Hello…"

Her voice was just as empty as her expressions.

" Our Great Leader Maxie…I like him a lot….."

"*Grunts* Yeah? Well good for you,"

Going off from her strange dialogue from Southern Island and her response of 'entertaining me', Courtney was clearly infatuated with her boss. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to mock her interests, but it was too good to resist.

I struggled to my feet as Courtney neared ne with intent to continue the abuse. "…And when you are gone….I will be his number one fan,"

She was going for my hair when a tall figure swiftly landed beside us to interfere. Courtney abandoned her assault to prevent any attacks on herself as she jumped back for safety. Fortunately for her, it was only Chirpie, who was still munching on the DAMMED COOKIE! Geez man! Hurry up and finish it already!

Once the embarrassing moment passed, the firebird squawked threateningly at the Magma admin while acting as an obstacle. He knew we were gonna hafta battle this crazy woman in order to successfully pursue Maxie. Good, now if he could learn to resist those stupid snacks. That would save me so much dignity.

Courtney took out her one and only pokeball and pointed it right at us. Wait, was she gonna-"Go, camerupt,"

The woman threw her pokeball above Chirpie and I. Our heads inevitably looked up at the air-sailing object to see it open. Light already poured out and began forming mass, but we weren't gonna sit there and wait for it to finish.

We both dove out of the landing point of a kajillion ton camerupt. I had to roll down further to accomplish that, but as long as I'm still aliv-" Don't move, kid!"

*Sighs* Right.

In all the distractions, I forgot about the Magma grunts we accumulated on my way here. They held out their pokeballs threateningly towards me; oh like that's gonna stop me when Chirpie's- oh wait, never mind. I was sure that he had been right behind me, but a quick glance behind my shoulder revealed otherwise. The firebird was now occupied with Courtney's camerupt to stop any further advances. Still, I wasn't gonna get myself captured so easily.

With some energy still in me, I sprang to my feet to take out a pokeball and meet my foes in battle.

"Wait May!"

The sounds of rocks tumbling down behind me caught our attention. My head turned to watch Professor Birch clumsily descend to where we were. His breath labored when he finally met up. As soon as the man was able to recover, he pulled out a pokeball from the pocket of his lab coat. A determined smirk manifested on his face.

"You know May, even though you and my son are certified trainers, it doesn't mean you can count me out just yet. I still have a few tricks up my sleeve,"

Another empty pokeball? Sorry professor, but Professor Sycamore already performed that trick at Mt. Chimney; and it wasn't even that impressive.

"Go Razor!"

Wait, what?

The professor threw out his pokeball in front of us; making the device open and pour out its contents. Its light stretched out wildly to form a Pokémon seven feet tall. Once it finished taking shape, I could see the beast with its head raised high.

As it stood as the same height as Chirpie, this Pokémon was a large-looking gecko. Like some reptilian Pokémon, it was the color of green leaves with a scarlet band across his belly and under his chin. His four leaf-shaped prongs that made up the large tail had been a more darker shade of green. His three clawed fingers stood carefully poised in the air. Professor Birch's Pokémon simply cocked its head both sides to take in the scene of everything within his field of vision using black slitted pupils and mustard-colored corneas.

"Mmmm professor? How long have you had THAT walking around with you?! I didn't know you actually had a personal Pokémon!"

"Of course I have a Pokémon! What professor doesn't? But I've had Razor for a very long time. But I only started training him around the same time you became a trainer. Let's just say that after you and Brendan made your choices, I made mine,'

Razor neared the grunts who still had their pokéballs out, but didn't yet have the thought to release them. Before it could happen however, the grass-type snatched one of them up by the back of the hood and shook them violently. The grunt screamed in terror in all ten seconds until Razor stopped. Professor Birch stood in front of the two and cleared his throat.

"You know, (Bob, Andy and Tom) I'm pretty disappointed that all of you lied to me about being a geological survey team. But, I'll give you a choice: You all can either leave now, or face Razor here. Just so you know though, he likes to play rough,"

At that moment, Professor Birch's Pokémon dropped the grunt in favor of watching him scramble to his teammates. From how he got unsteadily to his feet while shaking like a leaf, I'd say they made up their minds. The grunts quickly left us to see them scramble down the rugged terrain until they vanished from sight. Maybe I should get Chirpie to do that sometime.

When it was safe, Razor stalked over towards me with a mellow look. He bent his head down to sniff my head, inspect it and finally start chewing on my hair. Okay, this was weird. Alrighty professor, you can tell him to stop now…."PROFESSOR!"

"It's alright! He's just being friendly! Think of it as him getting to know the family's future daughter-in-law,"

Nevertheless, Professor Birch gently pushed Razor's head away. The large gecko thankfully let my hair go in the process. He now just stared at me with that ever relaxed gaze; I wonder if that's how Razor always looked.

"Now that that's settled, we can focus on curb-stomping Courtney and seeing if those old people are oka-UGH!"

If I could describe the next several seconds in one word, I'd hafta tell you how impossible that would be If the question had been about what was on my mind however, that would be easy. You see, of a rock suddenly came out of nowhere to hit you in the stomach and caused your descent down the mountain, wouldn't your words consist of 'I'm so screwed!' in a never-ending loop? Because mine were just that.

Upon impact of the rock it knocked me back to kick start the treacherous tumbling. My vision could only see everything as an earthen blur while continuing down. But that brown suddenly turned sky and ocean blue. Before I knew what was happening, I rolled right over a cliff.

* * *

Ugh, man. I should've said no. I really should have made an excuse. No favor to a friend was worth this.

From early in the morning to late afternoon, being stuck with Professor Sycamore had been nothing short of misery. He complained about everything from the moment we stepped outside. The kalosian ranted about how undeveloped and humid the region was. About how uncomfortable his t-shirt and khakis were. And even my dad shortcomings couldn't escape his gripes! That part had been more subtle, but hadn't gone unnoticed by my ears. "What a shame!" He would say as we walked. "Quite a brilliant scientist he is, but missed the opportunity to work in better conditions! Maybe his son will learn from his sins!" My dad may not a lot of common sense, but at least he's not a jerk! I should have ditched him in the jungle when I had a chance. Well, maybe another opportunity will pop up. Is this what you had to suffer, May?

Anyway, we came to Fortree City and quickly passed right through. Every time I slowed down to enjoy a sight, he came behind to push me along. Insisting that I use my own free time to act like a tourist. He's lucky that I already got the Featherbadge, or else we might have some problems. Why was he in such a hurry to catch up anyway? My dad wasn't really an unreasonable person. But no matter what the situation, the fantasy of being rid of Sycamore shamelessly played like a carousel throughout my hea-"Mr. Brendan, is that you?"

My feet suddenly halted with Professor Sycamore's following suit. I knew that voice! It was undoubtedly-" Could it be? Is that you, Mr. Stone?"

And now I'm confused. Of course it was Steven Stone who had stopped us, but how did Professor Sycamore know this guy? Well, it actually makes sense since they have the same mannerisms. But it was still a little strange to see a kalosian professor casually greet a hoennian rock collector with a friendly handshake.

"Professor Sycamore! What a surprise! I didn't expect to see you here!"

"Likewise; but life is full of surprises….no matter how unexpected they are,"

The two laughed if it was some funny joke before relaxing their stances. It was then that I slowly inched closer to them. Steven noticed my actions and turned towards me. "And its quite the pleasure to see you again," He said with a hand on my shoulder. "I trust your journey is going well?"

"Uh yeah. Professor Sycamore and I are just going through…and stuff. So how do you guys know each other?"

At the question, Steven's face lit up.

"You see…" He began while straightening his posture. Wow, even when explaining something, he didn't want to slouch. "….Professor Sycamore and his employer research the secrets of megaevolution and opened their mineral department to my curious hobby. I help here and there in exchange for sending any megastones that are found, to his laboratory in Kalos. A very fair agreement for the good of Pokémon and humanity if I say so myself. But that reminds me, I have something for you,"

He put his hand into his pocket and started to pull something to pull something out, but another object fell out and landed on the grass between the professor's shoes. Since it was a small, rectangular shape; Steven's cell phone. Out of courtesy, he bent down to pick it up when his finger accidentally pressed and turned on the screen. I could tell that Professor Sycamore's gaze had only glanced at the screen, when a surprised look was suddenly slapped on his expression.

"Professor Sycamore?"

He continued to stare at the screen with the corners of his mouth pulling down in a displeased frown.

"Professor Sycamore?"

The man's eyes flicked back up to see Steven and I staring at him. A shallow smile that showed an unusual amount of teeth was what now appeared on his features.

"Oh, goodness me! Pardon my rudeness! I was merely taken back by an unexpected revelation,"

I was sorta confused, but looking over to Steven, his face suddenly looked like he had been a stanler in a headlights. Clearly, there was something he didn't want anyone to find out. Without any real announcement, he flipped the phone for both of us to witness.

WHAT. ON. EARTH?!

"Steven…why is there a picture of you kissing my best friend?"

"I-it's not what you think! There was this Pokémon…."

Yeah, that explanation didn't sound any better. The guy's face was red and he tugged at his collar more than he should have. Meanwhile, Professor Sycamore's sadist-like smile only grew bigger from watching him break down. When he felt like he was satisfied enough, the kalosian swung an arm around Steven's shoulder and turned away from me. Sounds of whispering were heard, but unintelligible to my ears.

After a few minutes, Steven was released with the phone in his hands. The professor excitedly turned on his heels that matched one of an overly excited child. "Mr. Birch," He began. His eyes now staring at me intently. "Would you kindly wait here with Mr. Stone for a moment or two? There is something that I had forgotten to do. I will try not to be long!"

Without even waiting for my approval, Professor Sycamore suddenly disappeared into the tall grass. Steven was still recovering from the embarrassment, and it wasn't until an hour passed that I realized he wasn't coming back.

 ***Continued in Chapter 30***


	30. Chapter 30

"May...May?! Speak to me! Wake up!"

Uuuuh….I'm really nauseous. H-how come everything's a dark blur? My stomach; it feels like someone decked me hard there. Did that happen?

"Maaaaaa-*THWACK" Ow!"

"Stop bothering the girl! She needs her rest!"

"Okay…"

 **…**

Everything felt like it melted together in a soupy mix of fogginess. That's where my mind wandered aimlessly for the longest time. It wasn't til I began to feel conscious enough to open my eyes, did my brain finally start to clear. Eventually, my vision came into focus and I realized I was laying on a futon in a small room. The walls were flat, dark wooden panels stopping halfway to meet the beige colored drywall. A few fabric wall scrolls decorated three sides of the room. Strange-looking murals of creatures decorated them. The fourth wall was a screen door. Silhouettes of humanoid shapes would occasionally by. Ya know, this feels like déjà vu.

Getting up proved to be the most challenging thing to date. All my limbs stung from cuts or bruises I mysteriously acquired. But the most painful part of my body originated from my torso. Aside from the sore stomach, a searing pain began from the abdomen and ran up to stop on my upper left side.I didn't want to inspect it out of fear of what I might find, but a shred of courage allowed to careful hands to lift up my shirt and see.

Where the pain had been, was now covered by strips of puffy white bandages. Man I got messed up pretty bad. You know, I gotta wonder whether my family's insurance plan covers all these brutal injuries if I ever land myself in the hospital. But enough about that, let's find out where everyone is!

Finally managing to get on my feet, I stumbled around until balance was achieved. Good, now go over to the door; that's it, you got-" **$ %:0!** ". Balance had not been achieved. What happened instead consisted of me slipping and falling on the wooden floor. Cursing in agony while withdrawing into a ball.

The commotion I made caused the sliding door to open. I was at least able to turn my head and look up at Chirpie who stood in the doorway. He observed me for a minute before collecting me in his arms. No! He's gonna put me back in the futon! "C-Chirpie no! I don't…I'm not tired…". Just from hearing my voice, it was clear how much of a challenge it was to talk. Every breath going in or out hurt. Naturally, my firebird ignored the protests as he tucked me back in. Chirpie then sat down next to the door and observed me. Darn it, he wasn't gonna leave til I fell asleep! Let's see how long I can last; I'll show you!

 **-Seven Hours Later-**

Aw man, not again. Yet another attempt thwarted by my own Pokemon! You may have won the second round, but round three will be mine!

Thankfully this time around, moving any part of my body wasn't so painful; just dull and stinging sensations. Although, I could feel the larger wound throb. It was warm to the touch.

I got on my feet once more to find it was much easier than before to stay upright and waddle over to the door. With some effort, I slid it open to walk right in the living room. The floor here was covered in tatami mat with a bleak wooden table and zabutons in its center. The old couple, Professor Birch, Chirpie and Razor had occupied the cushions. Aside from the two Pokemon, all three adults had worried looks on their faces.

"Grrmh...Professor?"

"May! You're awake!"

His sullen gaze lit up from seeing me conscious. He got up from his sitting position to embrace me in an ursaring-like hug. Yeah, everything was still hurting a lot on contact. Only able to handle small increments of pain, I had to force myself out of the excruciating hug. He was puzzle as to why I had repelled his efforts of concern, until I informed him that his kindness literally felt like it was killing me! Professor Birch expressed his apologies and bade me to sit down.

The older couple took better note of observing my current condition and offered me tea. My hands held the little black painted ceramic cup to enjoy the warmth of its power green, liquid contents inside. Occasional sips from the cup was all it took to heat up the rest of me.

"How are you feeling Miss? We all saw you take quite the tumble,"

"Alright I guess, but I don't remember much aside from getting hit by that rock,"

"Well...it wasn't really pretty, but I can fill you in on the details. You see-"

 _I was in absolute shock after May was standing beside me one minute, and rolling off to her doom in the next. As it turned out, that 'stray rock' came from the camerupt's rock slide; which must have bounced off one of the other rocks and hit her in the stomach. Thankfully, Chirpie heard his trainer's cry of distress and reacted much faster. He abandoned the battle with the camerupt to rescue May._

 _However, the camerupt took advantage of the distraction to attack him. Fortunately, Razor quickly stepped in and intercepted the assault. It goes without saying, Razor took the hit, or more specifically a bite to the arm. My Pokemon did his best to keep a stern face despite the feeling of teeth crushing down on the appendage._

 _"So futile..."_

 _I looked up to see the woman stare down at us with little concern. Also, she was really creeping me out. Was she a spinster? I wouldn't be surprised if she was. Ya know, I'm pretty sure this is what might happen to May if Norman kept her single; stale with no hope of a personality and an unhealthy obsession with her job._

 _"Futile with what? You haven't even gotten to know Razor yet!"_

 _"…..Grass-types...are boring..."_

 _So that's what she thinks huh? Maybe its time I start making an impression._

 _"Razor!" I commanded with a clenched fist. "Low sweep the camerupt's legs!"_

 _In a flash, my sceptile dropped down with his free arm supporting his body weight. A leg fiercely knocked against the fire camel's stocky limbs; causing it to fall forward. I was (to say the least) very glad to be out of the way while they fell downward. For the most part, Razor was very capable of handling himself in situations like this; but the camerupt possible had been another story. Its heavy mass made them both travel down the mountain at dangerous speeds. At this rate, they'll roll off the mountain and sink into the ocean like anchors!_

 _Just as I imagined, there was the cliff; the same one May fell off of. Another swift glance at the girl wrought out an unpleasant feeling. Any trainer would be worried about their Pokemon rolling towards instant death, but she only stared at them. Not a single muscle twitched in change. No reaction that any normal human would display. Gosh, someone clearly DIDN'T have a boyfriend when they were younger!_

 _I looked back at the sorta battle, and Razor was able to break from the cycle of tumbling in time to latch on a craggy boulder using his free arm. He didn't look very pleased with having to support the enemy Pokemon by the bitten arm as he hung on. It also didn't help that half of his opponent's body was over the edge._

 _Suddenly, a loud squawk resonated in the air. Razor's face twisted in surprise and began to pull up his enemy from the cliff. The dark/grass-type pulled like his life depended on it. He kept at the task until the camerupt was back on land; along with Chirpie and an unconscious May. Thank arceus! She's still alive!_

 _I wasted no time running over to them. May's blazekin dusted his trainer off and put her in my arms. He didn't look very happy when he laid eyes upon the cruel, older woman. Her cold stare in response left an lasting uncomfortable feeling in my gut. She then started to walk robotically towards us without so much as batting an eye. The camerupt's pokeball was clenched in her palm. Boldly, she passed Chirpie, Razor and I to call back her Pokémon and leave without giving us another thought. We didn't try going after her mind you, because my future daughter –in-law was in need of medical attention._

"And that's how we made it here! I'm pretty glad Chirpie and Razor reacted when they did! That Team Magma woman sure was scary!"

"Not really; just super creepy. But what were those Magma losers doing up here anyway?"

"Weeeeeell, I don't know much about that, but they do. Excuse me ma'am, but can you explain it again to her? My memory's not so great,"

"O-of course, but I don't know much good it'll do,"

The old woman first refilled our teacups before sitting down beside her husband and clasped trembling hands together. Like some people who began their story-telling, she seemed to look beyond their listeners and peer back into their past.

This tale that she spun had originally started 4,000 years ago before Hoenn officially existed. Man was a young race that still struggled to make their way into the world. However, man and Pokemon alike were constantly threatened by two titans who waged battle each other. One who ruled the sea; Kyogre. The other who dominated the earth, Groudon. Every day they tossed the elements at one another in a never-ending war for victory. Although, it only caused a violent stalemate in every encounter.

Losing hope for their survival, man prayed to the heavens above to be saved from the titans' destruction. Their answer? A long, majestic sky being coming down and quelling the battle with its mighty force. It spat out two gems and sealed their powers before banishing them to the depths of oblivion.

As quickly as it came however, the sky being retreated back into the heavens; leaving man to watch over these two mysterious gems.

Come to find out, the people who were supposed to be keeping guard over the relics started dying out. This old couple who sat across the table from the professor and I, weren't even apart of them! They were asked to do it a favor from the previous caretaker before dying. Yeesh, that must be a freakin blow to have a civilization die out the way it did. Whether I believe the story or not, something still needs to be done about that Magma nerd, Maxie.

"Hey I can get back that crystal gem thing, no problem at all,"

"How? Team Magma is certainly not the type of people to be opposed so easily,"

"You kiddin? Those dorks are total pushovers when you're mean enough. I only got caught off guard because of a rock! But Team Maple can take em out easy! Sides, who else is gonna help ya? The police?"

Both the old man and woman looked at each other uneasily as if they both suspected the consequences of putting their trust in a teenager. Eventually, they excused themselves from our presence to take an obvious discussion to another room. I think I made a pretty good point.

"Hey May…" Professor Birch started to say as he was suddenly realizing something. Chirpie meanwhile, was in the middle of having a private conversation with Razor. My eyes briefly caught the grass/dark-type's bandaged arm while hearing their squawks and growls.

" You said you know how to deal with them, Team Magma I mean?"

"Yeah! Even that freak Courtney! She's all weird and likes her super nerdy boss!"

"So…does your dad know about all of this?"

Oh crap. It was pretty clear how stumped my face looked as every muscle in my features froze with surprise. I forgot that Professor Birch was besties with dad. If he blew the whistle about what I was doing, then dad would ground me til hell froze over! On the upside, there wouldn't be any more Sycamore, but no freedom to accompany the deal! Good arceus, what do I do?!

"You know, I kinda don't like the idea of you charging head first on a warpath against a criminal organization. I'm gonna have to talk with your dad about this,"

"WAIT! You can't! It'll ruin my training career!"

He already had his pokenav in hand. "Sorry May, but keeping you safe is a higher priority,"

"Come on Professor! Who knows what'll happen if I don't stop Team Magma and…and….it would be a real shame if I also missed having lunch with Brendan in Lilycove City,"

"Albert? Is that you? Hello-"*click*!

"Lunch?"

There was no doubt to this being a shameless tactic, but my determination to apprehend those Magma dorks was like a steel hard resolve. Maybe if I threw Birch some kind of platonic incentive that was his son, he would give me his blessings to continue on. Let's just hope Brendan doesn't catch onto being used like a bargaining chip.

"Yeah, yeah! We were definitely supposed to have lunch when we go to Lilycove!"

"Hm…I dunno…..I mean I could have sworn he said something about taking you on a dinner date when we were talking on the phone last,"

"WHAT?! No he didn't!"

"Eh, maybe you're right. Anyway, I should call your dad-"

"I mean, he totally must have said something about taking me to the department store!"

"You mean the movies,"

"The beach!"

"Deal!" Said the Professor with a cheerful smile. "Then I sincerely wish you to continue to have a wonderful journey!"

His ability to manipulate the situation was eerily similar to Sycamore, but at least it wasn't for completely selfish reasons. Still, my guard should be up with him more, now that he had a dirty secret hanging over me.

Just then, the sliding door to the other room opened. Our hosts came back to the table with a large object in hand. It was that egg-shaped, blue gem. They set it down before seating themselves in a proper manner.

"This orb has the power of Kyogre sealed inside. It has been said that this can be used to pacify Groudon back into slumber if it manages to awaken. But please child…stop those vagrants; for they do not know what kind of power they are meddling with,"

"No problem! I'll stop those nerds before they even THINK about doing it!"

"*Squawk!*"

"I mean we'll stop them,"

Chirpie had raised his voice to correct my statement. He was also eager to make a mess of Maxie's plans as much as possible. I couldn't blame his reasoning for wanting to when I saw Razor's arm. The grass/dark-type didn't seem very fazed by it though. He would occasionally stiffen from the stinging pain, but not much else of a reaction was produced.

After that brief conversation, I stuffed the mysterious blue gem in my bag before getting supper. With the meal consisting of tuna and crustaceans, I was considerably happy. We all stayed at the table when we had our fill; talking less about depressing gloom and doom. It wasn't overly happy, but just right as to clear our heads of the ever-present danger of fear for the future. When it got late, everyone went to sleep except for me, since I slept a lot earlier and all.

Instead, I went out of the house and sat on the wooden porch. Everything on Mt. Pyre was very quiet at night. If the moon wasn't shining I was sure that it would be pitch black. A scary as the thought would be on top of a mountain of literal graves, it didn't seem too bad when you looked up.

Accompanying the reflective ball of moon rock, was a countless display of stars. Each one twinkled in delight while they showed off their illuminated splendor. As a kid, I always believed that they looked

close enough to pull out of the sky if you were strong enough to perform the task. It was many years later that I learned about 'light years' and how far away they really were. Still, I never gave up hope.

Just then, sounds of the sliding door opening and closing briefly broke the silence of the night. Looking behind me, I saw that it was Chirpie. He came to me and sat down by my side with an arm around my shoulder. Despite all the battles and elements that went against him, Chirpie's feathers were always soft. My head inevitably gravitated towards his torso to lie against it. Being the small human girl that I was, he didn't mind my meager weight burdening him.

How strange it felt for me to transition from being the big, strong mama to the tiny, frail child in his eyes. He still listened to me and continued to fall for those stupid cookie tricks (via Maxie), but I wondered when he started to think like that. Well, whenever it was, he'll always look like the small, hopping and chirping torchic in my eyes; and that may just be the death of me.

For several hours, we continued to gaze at the vast stars above us in wonder and awe.

 **...**

The next day marked an end to my visit atop of Mt. Pyre. Professor Birch and our hosts bade me good-bye after packing me a small meal to eat for later. I switched out Chirpie for Pelipper, who was very happy to stretch her wings. Since the mountain didn't have many trees or was too confusing to navigate, coming back wouldn't pose much of a challenge. Next stop: Lilycove City!

Unfortunately, my professor couldn't come because he still had work to do, but I grew excited upon hearing that he would be back in the lab in the time it would take me to finish collecting all my badges. Hope you enjoyed your reign of tyranny Sycamore, because its about to come to an end!

"Now May..." He began while putting both hands on my shoulders. "Make sure you keep yourself safe,"

"I will Professor!"

"And eat properly,"

"No problem!"

"And remember your planned beach day date with your future husband/my son! I look forward to hearing ALL about it!"

"Uhhh...yeah...sure,"

Dam, I thought for sure he was gonna forget. Meh, what was I thinking? Of course he wouldn't let that slip his mind: He only attempted to persuade me a million times and then extort me! Ugh, I want to get it over with already.

"But all future family planning aside, you're a pretty great kid to me. I can't be more prouder of you for making it this far. So don't get discouraged and I wish you the very best!"

As corny as that line was, it pulled at my emotions with tears threatening to come out. Fortunately I was able to will them back while keeping my voice from cracking. However, it didn't mean I couldn't allow myself to throw my arms around him in a squeezing hug. He squeezed back in a heart-tugging moment that lasted longer than my brain hallucinated it to be.

Professor Birch may be a clumsy, air-headed guy, but I could almost feel myself grow jealous of Brendan..

 **...**

"*Squawk!*"

"Don't play with me Chirpie! You can see it ahead?!"

My nose tickled from the long blades of grass that brushed against my face. Since the vegetation was too tall for me to walk through, Chirpie thought it to be safer if I clung onto his shoulders. We occasionally got attacked by wild Pokémon, but he perceived them as small inconveniences. Trainers also challenged us on the untrimmed path with vigor. Too bad they weren't as good as Team Maple!

About an hour of uneventfulness passed before boredom took ahold. I was tempted to fall asleep when the fire/fighting-type squawked out in alarm. My eyes immediately widened awake from his announcement; to which I felt skeptical about since all I could see was grass. Upon hearing the unbelieving-sounding statement, Chirpie made me get off his shoulders. Initially, I thought he had been now too mad at me to continue his benevolence any longer; those thoughts only lasted for a fractions of a second until he suddenly picked me up. Right then and there, when I had been raised as high as a male blazekin could with a human teenager, my eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets!

Almost bigger than Mauville due to its prosperous ports and still growing populations, this city was like the crown jewel of the Hoenn region snuggled by the animated sea. Its land had been layered in uneven heights; which sparked creative ways to build many structures to wow tourists with. At first glance, the bluffs were a menacing presence that deterred the faint of heart. A second one yielded a cut out set of stairs that traveled all the way down to a vibrant beach. If the water wasn't something to be desired, one could easily look forward to its Art Gallery, Contest Spectacular and majestic Department Store! This was the City of Lilycove.

Like Mauville, the largeness of it all threatened to devour me as I felt very small. It was very fortunate that there was no gym here on top of it, or else I would explode! But to further decrease the possibilities

of that, a good long week might needed to be spent here. Being overwhelmed does not work well for a girl like me. First things first though: To an Inn!

I commanded Chirpie to move forward so we could acquire ourselves a place to stay. He squawked and held me in place until we were clear of the tall grass. I was then let down feet first on the ground to conduct the search. An hour of that made us come across a respectable-looking place with trainer discounts available and Johto-style rooms. The management however looked admittingly unreliable. Getting a room turned out to be a near impossible challenge because of his obsession with his mini-size t.v. he kept eager eyes glued to. When we finally got one, I immediately snuggle myself under the covers while Chirpie stayed up to do some channel-surfing.

 **...**

When I woke up the next day, I found my battle partner asleep with the remote still in his hand and the channel turned to an Orre novella: Mi Amor, La Corphish. I slipped out of my futon to turn it off and put some blankets over him. He shifted a little to better cuddle up in them; Chirpie looked so cute.

Shortly after that, my things were gathered together before being promptly shoved into my compartmentalized bag. The task was done quickly to allow more time for me to get dressed. Although just putting on clothes and fixing hair was supposed to only last a minute or two, my version lasted fifteen minutes too long. By the time Chirpie woke up, I was dressed and ready to roam the city. He suddenly felt very silly being wrapped up in the comforters

After assuring my Pokemon that there was nothing to be ashamed of and checking out of the place we stayed in, we looked around. Unlike Mauville, the homes weren't strictly a series of apartments. I'd have to describe it like Olivine City: While having fancy, creative-looking buildings, there were also small, quaint homes that rested cozily by the cliffs. It must be quite a view to wake up to.

The two of us visited gift shops to look at all the souvenirs. I bought a small jar filled with beach sand. The little shells mixed in clinked softly whenever it moved. Chirpie...well he bought a t-shirt that said 'Dues Ex Machina' along with an inflatable ball, decorative socks, bath salts, a Red Senpai Ranger keychain and a small fabric replica of a pidgy. Strange choices to say the least, but I had some odd tastes myself.

Now that the small fry were conquered, it was time for the main course: The Lilycove Department Store! Five levels, thousands of items and an endless imagination of what amazing scenarios would occur when we stepped inside.

In the lobby, there was a customer service desk with an unusually long line of people. I asked one of them and found out that it was a line for a special lottery. Trainer ID numbers are cast into a lot while a spontaneous number is manifested. If at least three of those numbers matched, then they get a prize. Personally I'd prefer to not wait for an eternity in a line for something not certain! Time to window shop!

So that's what we did; starting with the second floor full of things for pokemon. Clothes, toys pokeballs, super potions, food, you name it! It was a very useful place to stock up on supplies. My firebird nearly got himself dazed from all the excitement of it. I could have sworn he would have fainted.

We spent three hours on that floor alone before moving up to the third floor: The secret base section. Bitter feelings wrenched my heart from when I had one on the route to Fallarbor Town. It was all Professor Sycamore's fault that I don't want one anymore! Still, I couldn't help but be enamored by the pretty dolls, which caused me to stare at them for a long while.

Then came the fourth floor: The human shopping department. This particular section had been split even further. Clothes, electronics, accessories, toys, ect. It was interesting to try on different clothes, look at all the console games and smell candles, but it was stupid to think that I could buy anything like that and take it with me. Being a trainer was a career of travel and adventure to which they experienced numerous perils accompanied with constant toil. Carrying around a Pexsquare two console can only reap consequences. So I bought the handheld console 4CS and its recent game, Dawn Version.

After justifying the purchase to my firebird, we went to the fifth floor where all the grocery shopping took place. More importantly, this was the place where we stocked up on food and M.R.E.'s (Meals Ready to Eat). When there wasn't any food to forage or hunt, these sealed kits contained dried food that included an entrée, side dish, dessert, crackers a spread, a powdered beverage mix, utensils, a flameless heater, a water proof matchbook, t.p., moist towelettes, seasonings and powdered coffee.

There were mixed feelings about these meals, as their predecessors caused consumers to be…..well….let's just say they didn't agree with their stomachs. The newer ones however, were so amazing! Yeah their sole purpose was to enrich the consumer with enough calories ad nutrients to burn for an entire day, but they really put in effort to make it taste delicious! My favorite meal was the one with roast beef with vegetables, crackers with cheese, chocolate and instant tea.

I grabbed several of those ration packets and ventured into the snack section. Man, I was dying for som. Balbee potato chi-…what is that? What on this good, green earth is THAT?!

Everything was perfectly fine and dandy while going along, but it suddenly turned backward when my eyes fell upon something too familiar to my senses. Of course, the way it impacted those senses were terribly negative no matter how it was looked at. When Chirpie saw them, he automatically moved towards it with extreme interest. And why wouldn't he? They were the source of his addiction and my distinct reminder of the second most deplorable person on the face of the planet after Professor Sycamore!

My firebird took a box of those DAM TEDDIURSA GRAMS and put it in our shopping cart as if they belonged! I stood there in mute silence just staring at the shelf full of them while anger began to stir inside. Brows slowly furrowed to help transform a look of shock into fury. This was when a sales associate passed by and happened to spot us.

"Found the teddiursa grams, I see? We actually have our sale going where you can purchase them at half price! A pretty neat deal since they are a popular brand-"

" **AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!** "

I suddenly snapped; effectively losing myself to the raging monster that now resided inside born from anger. It hungered to be quenched by its appetite for destruction. Mayhem was its mistress that had seduced the unstable emotion. And as of the moment, self-control was nowhere to be found.

After everyone was able to hear my shrieking, volatile thirst for blood, my instincts caused me to smack the gram box out of Chirpie's hand. In the next instant, that same hand ran across shelves lined with those offending boxes. They clattered to the ground, but it wasn't enough; more infliction was needed. More wilder than any Pokémon, I tore at the boxes with absolute sadism. While doing so, screams that ranged from maniacal laughter to blood curdling shouts filled the floor. People who were only innocent bystanders clearly heard the unholy noises, grew frightened and fled.

" **COOKIE?! HOW ABOUT A COOKIE NOW YOU SONOFABITCH?! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!** "

From Chirpie's perspective, he saw me suddenly experience a psychotic break, start knocking some boxes on the floor and proceed to tear/ roll over/ mutilate them until they were only remnants of their former existence. The sales associate had been long gone, but the firebird was still there; looking upon me with a displeased expression. He decided that enough was enough and picked ne up to throw my body over his shoulder I put up a struggle, but my fire-fighter had the obvious advantage.

The cashier was afraid of my madness, but Chirpie paid no attention as he got out my wallet to pay. He turned around for a moment to count all the boxes I destroyed, turned back to count the money, got the bags, rode the elevator with me still crazed, left the department store, walked down the steps to the beach, got onto the beach, waded leg deep in water and tossed me in.

With the sudden feeling of cold, salty water hitting my flesh, I snapped out of my episode and scrambled to the surface. Good arceus! My injury still hur-uh oh. Once I shot my head out of the water and sucked in air, a feeling of anger was now burdening my shoulders. No surprise, Chirpie was staring down at me in fierce disapproval of what just transpired. "Haha….you're not…..mad about what just happened right?"

"…"

"Buddy? Best buds?...Team Maple go?"

"* **SQUAWK!** *"

"Chirpie no! There are witnesses!"

 **…..**

Remember what I said about wondering how my role changed from being big, strong mama to small, frail child? This was one of those times. In the process, Chirpie somehow gained the authority to punish me when he saw it fit. For one whole hour, he banished me to a park bench and wouldn't allow any privilege of freedom or fun. It felt humiliating as a teenager and awkward when people passed me by and also realize that the trainer was being reprimanded by her Pokémon. This is too agonizing! Something just fall out of the sky and kill me already!

Eventually, Chirpie finally deemed my time out to have been long enough and squawked as a signal to its end. However, he gave me a stern look as a warning of a harsher sentence should another episode occur. My response was a nervous laugh along with the twiddling of my thumbs.

"I…..I promise not to do that again! Can we uh….be friends again?"

"*Squawk*. *Pats head*"

"Yes! Team Maple gooooo-"

"Hey May! Over here!"

We suddenly turned around to see an unexpected friend calling to us. Wearing deep blue swimming trunks minus the hat and holding an oversized bag was none other than Brendan Birch. Standing next to him was Kippie; who had her lips smeared with brightest color of pink lipstick mankind has ever seen. And-yo. Does Brendan have abs? I thought he was just skinny?! Granted, he worked well with his hands, but I expected him not to have abs! Okay May, his eyes are up there; stop looking down-"Looks like you made it! How did it go with my dad?"

Before I knew it, Brendan and Kippie were close to us with relaxed stances. Remembering that he asked a question, I managed to spout something by out. "Oh! Well he's doing okay! We actually ran into Team Magma and stuff but we-or he kicked their butts,"

"Seriously? You're talking about my dad right?"

"Yeah, I know right? Who knew a grass/ dark-type could put a fire/ground-type at a disadvantage? Anyway, so he kicks their butts and helps me back to this old couple's house where we find out about

some prophecy thing; and you know that I want some payback, so they gave me a magic gem to help put an ancient Pokémon to sleep if it wakes up. But I don't think that'll happen,"

"Okay that's weird…..anything else happen?"

"Nope! But uh, where's Sycamore?"

Asking the question was more out of personal safety rather than legitimate concern. Being accosted by him when least expected was not something to be desired. Suddenly though, Brendan's face went blank. My own features scrunched in confusion as I attempted to figure out his thoughts. He stood there like a frozen computer screen for a few moments until he came back to reality with a nervous expression on his face. "Well…you see…..I lost him," He admitted while starting to hang his head in shame. Huh, interesting development.

"So: Where did you lose him?" My voice spoke with piqued curiosity.

Brendan looked like he felt pretty bad about the ordeal, but honestly, he shouldn't lose any sleep over it. After all, I, May Maple (a.k.a the master of stealth) had done so when the opportunity came up.

"Well, it was just outside of Fortree City. We saw Steven Stone there…..he had uh…..I just remembered! They sell some awesome tasting snow cones on the beach! If we don't hurry, they'll close on us!"

With that quickly said, my bestie very quickly changed moods and ushered me back to the beach. That was pretty weird, but hey: Gotta fulfill that agreement to Professor Birch somehow! Plus Professor Sycamore was probably lost somewhere on the route to Lilycove or just stayed in Fortree. I was safe from any torture for now. Although the back of my mind was still interested about why Brendan was avoiding an explanation.

Anyway, all four of us went down the steep steps towards the vast, exciting environment that was the beach. There actually was a small snow cone stand down there; it was against the sturdy cliffs as if it didn't want to be discovered. Our small party each got one with many colors flavoring the ice. It was such a delicious treat for a very hot day.

When we finished, it had been decided to stay here for the rest of the day. It was fortunate that Sycamore wasn't around or else I wouldn't be able to put on my beach attire. Hiding behind a large rock while commanding the males not to look, I commenced changing into my crimson one-piece. Upon taking off my undershirt however, a lingering pain reminded me not to go play in the water. Every time I moved suddenly or touched the healing wound, pain struck my insides with little mercy. Whew, okay. Don't mess with it too much.

After I got on my swimsuit, my first order of business was to start the good ol' beach tradition of burying people in the sand! Brendan became very hesitant to do this for some reason; even when I told him that our spot would be close to shore. It was only under the terms that Kippie would be the one digging and it being away from the shore, would he finally agree to participate. The big/ adorable water/ground-type of course happily agreed to take upon this task as she began to make human sized holes in the soft earth. I went in first and was buried up to my neck. We all laughed, got me out of the hole and switched with Brendan. My bestie enjoyed himself after being shown how non-lethal the fun was.

Our next activity included Brendan and I playing with the beach ball while Chirpie and Kippie had been left to their own devices. I occasionally looked back to see his swampert showing my blazekin her make-up box. Brendan sighed heavily when I inquired about her new tastes. Apparently Lisia-chan was to blame. After one of the Contest Spectaculars, she saw Kippie sniffing around the cosmetics on top of the marble vanities in the dressing room, taught her how to hold the make-up tools and watched as she created a monster. Pikachu was the main victim of the abuse; and he was tormented going through every ordeal of it. Speaking of Lisia-chan and make-up:

"So you still going to those Contest Spectaculars? I know its not really your style and all, but I was planning on going tomorrow. I'm only second place in the contest's cool category, and I have a feeling I'll luck out this time,"

"Are you kidding? You bet I am! And when I rock the cuteness category, we'll celebrate by eating ourselves to death at that barbecue place next to the department store!"

"Sweet! It's a date! As friends, I mean,"

Brendan was quick to correct himself on the interpretation of the word, but I wasn't so paranoid or narrow-minded like before. Besides, he doesn't even know that we're on one right now. Although, it was a date born from extortion.

The day was setting, turning the sky an orange-blue color that tinted over hanging clouds mauve, pink and red. Chilly breezes started coming through and dissuading beach goers. However, the four of us (mainly Brendan and I) had no trouble staying. A strange sense of comfort came over me as I laid my head on Brendan's shoulder. He didn't seemed bothered by the sudden weight. Together, we watched the sun slip underneath the horizon.

 ***Continued in Chapter 31***


	31. Chapter 31

_Hello my lovelies! It sure has been a while since I posted anything, but do not fret! As you can see, I'm alive and well! I have a vision for this series and I'm gonna see it through to the end. Life however still goes on, so I'll try when I can to write and post new chapters. Aside from that, I hope you enjoy!_

* * *

The morning filled me with excitement. Today Brendan and I were going to the Contest Spectaculars and compete in our respective categories. I could almost taste the victory on my tongue instead of the corn beef hash with pancakes on my plate while thinking about it. Of course I almost choked on my food because of those imaginary visions that ran around my head, but no big deal!

Brendan on the other hand, ate like a normal human being. Man, how could he NOT feel so pumped right now?! This was our make or break moment! Also, there wouldn't be any more contests for the rest of the year after today. Usually in that time of limbo, people would practice with their Pokemon. For our case, we couldn't since we decided to dedicate the rest of that time and energy to finish our journey. Lisia-chan may not like it, but she'll just to get over it!

"So after the contests, we'll meet up at Lilycove BBQ and talk about our trip to Mossdeep City. We don't wanna take a sea trip and end up starving to death because we made a wrong turn somewhere,"

"I don't think getting lost is really a problem for you though. I mean you know how to look at the stars and shit,''

"Not if its cloudy. Sides, we're gonna hafta train our Pokémon that are good in the water,"

"Right, right. So you ready for the contest?"

"Yeah; let's do this,"

We paid for the meal before leaving the small diner my human cohort found the day before and headed to the scarlet red building down the road. It was a very nice, but still tense walk. To keep myself from getting psyched out, I kept my vision downward at the grass. However, they would glance from side-to-side every now and then. Even catching a glimpse of a thick, silver bracelet with a colorful stone set in on Brendan's wrist-wait...wha-

 **...**

" **AAAAAAAAUGH! Just let me diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie!** "

"Oh come on! It wasn't...THAT bad! You did very good til the end! AND, you both got third place at least! Usually a finale that terrible lands you in fourth,"

"You're not helping!"

There we were, in the dressing room of the Contest Spectacular. My face laid heavily on the countertop of the vanity while Lisia-chan tried pulling it up to apply a fresh coat of strawberry flavored lipgloss. Skitty was curled comfortably under my stool and Ali did his best to nudge her excitedly with his beak.

I was fiercely determined to end this spectacular in 1st place and go out with a bang. What happened instead turned into one of the most socially destructive moments of my life. Everything was fine in the beginning when Skitty and I started our performance. She jumped, rolled, ran and walked on cue as I waved the red ball of string around for incentive. We practiced our routine when we could and honestly, I felt confident.

 ***GURGLE*** What the- ***GURGLE***

Suddenly, my stomach got queasy and rumbled uncomfortably. My face felt clammy with sweat beading it. I stopped abruptly to clutch my belly. People started to tell that there was something wrong, for most of their cheers became hushed in the audience. Cold saliva filled nervous taste buds while sitting in the back of my mouth. Before everyone and their mother...I...I...-

"I don't feel so- ***RETCHES*** "

The next thing I knew, my tired eyes opened up to see Lisia-chan, Ali and Skitty looking down at me. Apparently, they dragged my collapsed body back to lay on the couch in the dressing room. Eventually it was learned that the place Brendan and I ate at was a place where only the local's iron stomachs could withstand the gut-busting food.

So in other words, I got food poisoning.

To say that a loss caused by something as simple as that was a devastating blow. Actually, consider it an understatement. It felt like I was stabbed several times, ran over by a truck, had tons of salt poured into my wounds and Maxie standing over me while laughing the whole time. Yep, that sounded about right.

But despite the social death, disappointment settled in my chest. What was I gonna tell Brendan?! We're supposed to be number one together! Just imagining what he would say wrenched my stomach more than bad food could ever do. The ginger ale helped alleviate the nausea, but it couldn't take away what happened. Although, Lisia-chan assured me otherwise.

"It's not the end of the world or anything! Stop being such a debbie downer! Now….Ali and I have some things to do, so just relax for a bit, m'kay? Just take your time to get yourself together for the spectacular artists! I know one of them is just dying to paint Skitty's portrait!"

Aside from Lisia-chan's movements, my head was still dead weight on top of the counter. I could tell from her voice that she was frustrated with my willingness to carry on a depressed attitude, but refused to show it. With a quick 'caio', she and Ali left to interact with the world outside the dressing room. Good, they're finally gone.

My head remained firmly in place for a few minutes before finally lifting it up. A slow process, but I managed to find myself now staring at an unsure reflection in the mirror. My face filled back up with color in addition to the halting of sickly sweat. A few minutes ago, it was hard to tell that I looked like a normal human being at all.

But how could I keep my sanity and dignity of someone even hinted at the incident?! Obviously everybody in the audience saw it. How would I react? By now, anyone could guess that my violent temperament would end up strangling someone. I kinda don't wanna do that. Ugh! Then I'd just be stuck in this room! Brendan might be waiting for me!

I suddenly stood up with powerful resolve. Skitty woke up from the noise I made and scurried out from under the chair. For my bestie's sake, we're gonna march out of this room, go through that lobby, get Skitty's portrait painted and meet up with Brendan with dignity! The distorted world will freeze over before anyone can stop me.

Grabbing my pink cat, I held my head high with newfound self-confidence. My body gained an adrenaline rush and a need to move with purpose. This was gonna be my moment of triumph over defeat!

The door was practically smacked open an-OH FRESH HELL!

Fate is a really cruel thing-or Pokémon maybe, but it was cruel for sure. And why would I say something like this? You would too if Professor Augustine Sycamore had been standing just beyond your dressing room door! His fist froze in midair from stopping an attempt of knocking against hard wood.

We both stood in uncomfortable silence as we inspected each other. His disgusted hatred for the normal clothes he had been forced to wear were gone; replaced with his trademark ultramarine blue shirt and black trousers once more. Tousled dark hair fell handsomely down his head. Those ocean blue eyes I came to know stared back into my gaze. He almost looked like I was expected to be here.

"*inhales* **AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH**!"

When I somewhat regained enough sense, my hands automatically threw a very excited Skitty at Sycamore. The moment the professor's reactive instincts caught the Pokémon, I swiftly slammed the door- **GOOD ARCEUS**!

My aim was mighty, but not fast enough. Professor Sycamore's arm was fully wedged between the door and its frame before I could have shut it. He suddenly gave it a ferocious to push it open. I tumbled back, but quickly regained balance. More adrenaline could be felt coursing through my veins as I witnessed the man smugly let himself in to put my cat down and quietly close the door with a devilish look on his features.

"So THIS is where my wild Birdie flies off to…." He began while making his approach. "She comes to show off her brightly colored plumage! I must say: I had my sneaking suspicions when I caught sight of those small holes in your ears back then, but I had no idea of the magnitude of your dirty little secret!"

"Stay back! I'm warning you! I'm like a wild animal if you mess with me!"

"Oh I do hope so! The previous sport I've been encountering until now has been quite boring. I rather yearn for something more lively!"

"Fine! You've forced my hand! Maple Style! M-mega-uh….cosmetic throwing stuff attack!"

Sure the name sounded incredibly stupid, but how could anyone think up a good one in a situation like this?!

Just like the name suggested, I reached for the beauty supplies and launched them at my foe. Sycamore merely laughed haughtily at my efforts to repel him. Everything was feeling very sweaty right now.

As he kept coming, I obtained my final weapon: Coral Red no. 3 semi-gloss lipstick (strawberry flavored). The object was uncapped, twisted out and ready to cause destruction.

"Get back!" I exclaimed while swinging it like a hunting knife. "Come any closer and I'll mark your clothes up! You'll never get the stains out and have another set of your perfect attire ruined!"

My plan was perfect; keep the professor at bay while grabbing Skitty and making a run for it. It was a great plan….in theory anyway. I just hope that Sycamore can't think a way outta this one.

He took a moment to glance at the would-be threat before his eyes traveled back towards me. His smile grew into an intimidating, teeth-showing grin. "My….what a troublesome dilemma! A tube of brightly colorful lipstick in the hands of a ferocious bird! One who is not afraid to get her talons dirty if it came to such a thing…."

Instead of being kept away by my efforts, Professor Sycamore kept walking forward as if he didn't take the threat seriously. In turn, my feet began moving back. Good arceus! He's not stopping! What do I do now?! And just as those words passed through my head, the cool, marble counter could be felt when I backed into its corner. I made the mistake of looking back, and that was all it took for him to close in.

He swiftly apprehended the hand that wielded the lipstick of mass destruction and squeezed it until my nerves were too deprived of blood and feeling to hold onto it any longer. Once the threat clattered on the floor, he kicked it away in order to properly focus on torturing me. I tried turning my head away, but his other hand grabbed ahold of my chin to force it back. "However, you forget who plays the wolf in this game darling. And since you brought it up, I intend to collect the cost of damages you previously incurred upon my attire; they were special ordered and custom made for my use only,"

Effectively caught off guard, to say that my senses had been suddenly shocked would've been the understatement of the year. Of course anyone would feel the same way too if they had their dress torn by eager fingers. Part of the front he ruined flopped over; which was quickly held back up by my free hand. In doing so however, I pressed too hard against my chest and whimpered in pain. Sycamore noticed my abrupt change in behavior and paused his assault.

"…Is something the matter darling? Why are you making that face?"

"N-none of your fucking business!"

"Hmph, a stubborn thing as always. I will be the judge of that,"

The man let go of my chin to forcefully peel away my shielding hand to inspect. It almost felt shameful; not because he was getting lookie-loos, but that he made it seem like what injuries I made that were kept from him was a crime. He wordlessly looked at my healing wound for several minutes as to form an unknown hypothesis and strangely slid both hands to my waist. Sycamore let out an unusually calm sigh before lifting me up to sit on the countertop. His torso strategically placed between my legs.

Now, being 'afraid' of Professor Augustine Sycamore sounded as silly as it gets. I mean, come on, he looks so weak. Of course any meat head would say that if they happened to pass by him on the street. He wasn't scary in the sense of an alleyway thug, gangster or me. No, more in a way like a natural born predator or someone drunk off power. He preyed on the weak and unsuspecting while toying with the ones who could see his true nature. Anyone who got under his skin was subjected to emotional and (if the situation could work for him) physical torture. To him, almost everyone was placed in a position he wanted them in. So in answering the question he asked, I was afraid what the outcome would be.

He slyly rest his beautiful forehead against mine while I could feel his warm breath against my lips. You could say he was trying to be affectionate; although sense told me this doubled as a persuasion tactic. Either way, my stupid teenage body felt like it was melting from all the attention. I can't wait to grow up and get rid of these extra hormones.

"Why do you not tell me how you were injured, my poor, troublesome bird?"

"I-I said it's none of your business!"

"It was that despicable little child who has that ridiculous infatuation with you, yes?"

"I'm not answering you!"

"Was it that tasteless Maxie? Did your most beloved professor tell you NOT to chase after such a barbarian?"

"The only professor I like is Professor Birch! He's not fancy or smart like you, but at least he's not a jerk or a coward!"

Oh fuck.

I remembered the last time I insulted him about _'that_ ' topic, it didn't go well for my two bag of chips. So it wasn't a surprise when his face leaned back with a jealous expression. Dam this guy had too many issues about insecurity. Birch is an airhead who's only concerned about work and grandkids for crying out loud! Why the hell are you getting all worked up about him, an overachieving nerd(Maxie) and friends that happen to be boys?! Wait, what's he-

His face suddenly closed in and pressed his warm lips against mine with bold non-consent. While it shocked me at first, an enchanting sensation shortly took its place that made my heart go into thumping tizzy. Honestly, the way he forcefully impressed it on me curled my toes in a passion that- wait, stop thinking about this! He's only doing it for interrogation purposes! Must escape….before I talk!

Already, the idea of giving in started seeping into my thoughts. I mean, he just wants to know how I got hurt; the Professor Sycamore I know wouldn't go so far a murder-NO! I HAFTA RESIST!

A small part of my will empowered my limbs to attempt repelling his dangerous advances by pushing at his already hot chest. He reacted by seizing my arms and wrapping his arms around my waist. Sycamore kissed, sucked and tasted my lips; apparently enjoying the flavor of my semi-gloss lipstick that was originally spread on there. There was little strength to move; let alone escape. Somebody please help me-*THUMP!THUMP!THUMP!*

We froze at the sudden knocking that rapped against the wooden door. Relief flooded my chest upon hearing the noises, but I needed to get free. Sycamore still had me in his clutches with his head turned in annoyance. It was then that I realized that the buttons on his shirt were almost all the way unbuttoned with his tousled hair in an even bigger mess. GOOD FUCKING ARCEUS, how did that manage to happen so fast?! Our interaction only lasted a couple of seconds! Was he some kind of alien or demon born with the talents of rendering girls powerless?!

Whoever it was on the other side of the door kept on knocking for about what felt like a minute until deciding to reach for the handle….which was only able to rattle. Relief turned into anxiety as I realized they couldn't get in. I tried leaping off the countertop, but the dastardly professor kept me in place with a hand clapped over my mouth; his annoyance took a 180 degree turn to upmost joy. Together we watched the door rattle several more times before stopping in a heart-wrenching silence.

"Goodness me…" Began Sycamore as he turned his attention back on me. "We must count ourselves fortunate that I had the hindsight to lock the door. Fate seems to curse my timing of things. But back to the issue at hand: I will make you tell me the cause of your injury by any means necessary,"

His fingers suddenly squished my cheeks. Puckering out my lips for his amusement.

"A sacrifice I am willing to make on your behalf. Now let us start with those pretty lips and work our way down,"

He pulled my unwilling face towards him to commence torturing me. NOOOOOOOOOO-* **BANG!** *

A large sound startled us out of my dilemma. My eyes and Sycamore's head looked towards the door once more.*BANG!* It came and rattled the entrance. Dust puffed out on small sprays as it streamed out in from the small cracks. Then-*BAM!THUD!* The third time it sounded caused the rectangular piece of wood to swing violently open. Standing in the space behind it, was Lisia-chan…..holding a large battering ram in her hands.

The three of us stared at each other in unexpected silence until she broke it. Her mouth upturned with a odd smile and dropped the heavy-looking object that was in her hold. "Oh my gosh! I can't believe how jammed that door was! It's a good thing I had a spare battering ram!" She exclaimed excitedly. Her hands clapped together and walked further in the room. "Oh? What's this? Birdie-chan! You know the rules! Fans can't be in the dressing room! Sorry sir, but I'll have to put you out!"

Already, the Contest Spectacular Veteran had a broom in her hand and was shooing him away like a stray animal. The professor looked silly being chased away by a young adult and tried to earn his stay.

"Come now! Must it be necessary? I am no mere admirer, but her tutor! Surely this qualifies my admission!"

"Nope! Contest Spectacular performers only! You're gonna hafta wait outside!"

"But I-"

"No butts! Please wait until all Contest Spectacular performers are properly changed back into their normal attire and out of the dressing room! Bye-bye!"

On that unexpected note, Lisia-chan ejected the professor from the dressing room before closing the lock-busted door with a proud slam. I was still sitting there; completely beside myself. Lisia-chan had accomplished what felt like no other women had done before: Successfully resist a man who was skilled in the art of seduction. She did this with much bravado and little hesitation. Thank arceus! Life was finally cutting me some slack!

I hopped off the countertop while still holding my dress together. "Man Lisia-chan, you have no idea how grateful I am tha-" The teen idol suddenly turned around to grab ahold of my shoulders. Her eyes were wild as her face got close to mine. "May, what are you doing?! She exclaimed while shaking me like a ragdoll.

"Huh? What are _you_ doing?! I was just-"

"Listen May, I know he's a really hot and attractive professor with a foreign accent, but you can't fall for him! My otp fanfiction depends on it! Your place in a doki doki relationship is with your best friend/ secret boyfriend, Brendan!"

Okay, this is now getting weird. As wacky as this girl was, Lisia-chan never ceased to amaze me with her strange fantasies. I had no idea what the terms 'doki doki' or 'otp' were, but I had little desire to find out. At any rate, Sycamore was still lying in wait for me in the lobby. I swatted her away in annoyance.

"Whatever Lisia. Do you have a back way out or something? Because if you really wanna keep your hallucinations alive, then you'll help me escape,"

"A way out? Sure thing! Anything for the cause of Hoennshipping!"

"The what?"

"Wait right here!"

"Hey! You didn't tell me what 'Hoennshipping' is!

But Lisia-chan already moved to the other side of the room; close to a large, wooden trunk used for costume accessories. She unlocked it, threw everything to the side and motioned for me to come over. Not wanting to miss the opportunity, I went to her so I could see what she had in mind.

Nearing this mysterious trunk, a cool blast of air hit my face, sending an uncomfortable chill throughout the rest of my body. It turns out, the accessories were merely a front for something much bigger: A secret tunnel. Woah, this is pretty weird, even for Lisia-chan. Was she some kind of smuggler or something? I better not ask anything about it.

"THIS," She exclaimed in unrestricted excitement while gathering my things together. "Is is how you'll be sneaking out! Wouldn't want to cause any unnecessary attention. Now fly my amazing apprentice, FLYYYYY!"

"Hold up! Lemme get dressed first!"

 **…**

The secret path I was sent on had been dimly lit to avoid detection on both ends. It was made of concrete and every sound bounced off its walls. This place struck me as very creepy. All that's missing is a psychopath coming to send me to an early grave. Fortunately, everything remained uneventful from beginning to end; which was seeing rusted bars stuck in the wall to act like steps. Climbing up proved to be little of a challenge. The top felt to be made of wood, so I pushed as hard as I could an-

*POP!*

"Huh? Where am I?"

When my hands finally pushed open the top, I was left confused for a moment as to where the tunnel had left me. I could still smell the distinct sea of Lilycove, so I was in the city for sure. AH! The hotel's right over there, the department store is here and I'm…..at the marina?

Out of all the places that Lisia-chan could've used as the end route, she chose Lilycove's marina! Now I'm really starting to wonder if my talent teacher _is_ dealing in some under-the-table stuff! Well due to my crisis, a possible investigation will hafta wait. You got lucky this time, Lisia-chan!

Although Slate port dominated the Hoenn region when it came to trading, Lilycove had its own little port of wealth. Mostly luxury items came through here with an occasional Pokémon species stowing away in the cargo hold. Cruise ships also parked their boats here in encouragement for tourism. All of that came through the marina.

Gathering my strength, I crawled out of the hole and put the falsetto back in its place. Man, escaping the professor sure worked up an appetite. I should-where's all those people going?

At the front of the marina, many tourists and locals alike were gathering to enter the mouth of the port in curiosity and mild excitement. I began to consider my next course of action. Lilycove didn't have a gym, so there wasn't any obligation to stay. Hitching a ride on a boat to the next place wouldn't be a bad idea; especially since I could blend in with the crowd.

I casually stole my way into the group of people in hopes for an effective way to bail. They absorbed me into their thrilled crowd with gladness. Together we all went in.

Okay* grunts* now to give them the sli-woah.

Seeing as how my height reached up to 4'11, being able to take in any sort of sight proved to be a difficult feat until I managed to separate myself from the large clique; leaving me to gaze upon a half-submerged submarine. Aside from pictures in magazines or movies, I never saw a sub's entirety until now. It was overwhelming and so….intimidating.

When people had dispersed enough for me to push ahead, my eyes suddenly halted, for they recognized someone I hadn't seen in a while: Captain Stern. He stood behind a small podium next to the railing of the fancy pier. Suddenly, the task of delivering those ship parts made perfect sense. Actually, bringing ship parts to make a sub felt backwards. You can't use ship parts for a submarine! Oh well.

I went forward and shouted for the old man's attention with waving arms. Somehow, it managed to work as his tired eyes raised up in surprise and waved back. Hos response inspired me to power through until I made it to him.

"Captain Stern!" I was only able to utter his name before stopping and bending forward to suck in air. The man adjusted his hat smugly. "Why Miss Maple! What a coincidence to find you here! What brings such a little lady to the Lilycove Marina?"

"Actually, I was gonna ask you the same thing. I was just passin' through and got curious,"

"Ah!" He paused to push me towards the railing. "Today is the day my company christens our updated model of our Deepwater sub! It took us a long time to develop, but it will be worth the toil once we start reaping the results," Captain Stern explained while gesturing to the sub's entirety.

"But all of this, I owe to you. Miss May Maple, you took on a stranger's request expecting nothing in return. And if it weren't enough, you stood up to Team Magma's oppressiveness and turned them on their heads. Take pride my dear: Without your help, we couldn't have surpassed this milestone!"

I never really thought of something like that. To me, it felt just like another delivery. The way he put it in perspective however, made my heart leap with excitement. Being a part of something like that, (no matter how nerdy it was) helped me feel a sense of self-worth.

"Thanks, it was nothing to it,"

"Nonsense, being a trainer is no easy feat. Even more so when you've gone above and beyond! Don't be afraid to give yourself some recognition,"

While I can brag about beating up Team Magma and try looking cooler in front of my peers, gloating wasn't something done on a regular basis…..at least I think it wasn't. Anyway, Captain Stern casually held up his pocket watch for a glance and nearly jumped out of his socks. "Goodness!" He exclaimed while his free hand to hold onto his hat. "Please excuse me, it's time to begin the ceremony,"

I nodded and gave him space so he could go towards the podium. That old man is something else. A big dreamer for sure. And although I didn't see any pokeballs on him or have any Pokémon at his side, did he ever own any?" Even though he looked like preferred other alternatives to be being a trainer, I've learned to expect the unexpected.

My head turned briefly to look at the majestic sub before switching views to the captain, who started to address excited onlookers. He tapped the foam topped microphone to test the sound before speaking.

"Greetings people of Lilycove; welcome to the brief christening of Team Magma's instrument of humanity's progress,"

Okay, I wasn't expecting Captain Stern to start his speech off like that. Or change his voice while delivering it. In fact, he looked pretty surprised himself. Wait a minute, I know who's talking! Its-

Suddenly the submarine began moving; and not at a slow pace either. I automatically leaped over the railing to pursue. However, I forgot about my brutal injury that had been sustained, so it was only natural for the salt water to cause extraordinary pain to my wound. I jerked erratically and was able to fight the pain long enough to get to the surface. Thankfully, once my head popped out of the water, a life floater ring had been thrown in. A rope was tied to it. My body pathetically swam to the object and held onto the thing for dear life. And as the life floater ring was being pulled back to the port, I could hear my arch enemy, Maxie speak calmly through the loudspeakers.

"I must apologize for commandeering your vessel, but be assured that it is but a small price to pay for what's to come. Team Magma will restore humankind's achievements and push it towards a flourishing future! True, there are some who do not believe, but fear not: I, the Great Maxie will put those doubts to rest,"

Tch, typical of the nerd; acting so full of himself. I'll bet he carries a mirror with him to stare at himself all day. My head turned to the sinking sub. Dam, I couldn't catch it even if I wanted to now.

"And to the naïve, little girl who thinks of herself to be the brave heroine,"

Huh?

"Not a bright idea to try following a submarine. Try using some common sense for once, it'll work wonders. Great Maxie out,"

THAT FUCKINHG SHI-

 **…**

The concerned citizens who had thrown me the ring, pulled me out of the water and sent me to the hospital. Despite salt metaphorically and literally put in my wounds, I managed to have enough patience with the nurses and their aides. One aide in particular interacted with me in a way that felt like I was on a flight. She was about the same height as me with tanned skin and dark brown hair neatly put up in a bun. Her chocolate colored eyes shielded by a rectangular pair of glasses imitated the illusion that she was looking right at me; the reality was that she had been staring at the wall above me. The aide wore a faded pair of Caribbean blue scrubs with a black, long sleeve undershirt. Her name badge dangled alongside a rubber krabby that held a mini hand sanitizer; pecha bellini scented. Her mannerism was shy and tried rehearsing polite, careful words.

"Good morning. My name is Janice Ortiz. I wanted to make sure I got the time to introduce myself and let you know that I'll be here today taking care of you along with the nurse. Is there anything I can get you at the moment before I leave?"

"Nope, I'm good-wait! I want…..sherbet ice cream. Can I get some of that?"

"Uh, this is medical intensive care….and I'll hafta call dietary to see if that's allowed in your diet, but uh, if it clears, then sure. Would you like anything else?"

"Now that you mention it, gimme some water with ice-oh and a cup of ice by itself,"

"Oh…alrighty then, just give me a minute and I'll get that for you,"

"Sweet, thanks,"

Maaaaaybe I abused my power as a patient over her, but fuck that! I want my free ice cream and room service! I mean, she's SUPPOSED to cater to my every whim in order to get better right? I dunno, but for most of the day after that, I barely saw her. Well there was this one time where she tried sneaking in to restock the medical cabinet, but I caught her and demanded more ice cream. There was a casual wave of the hand at each request, but I could tell how pissed she was…meh, this is what my insurance pays for; top of the line service!

Anyway, aside from that and the painful bandage changes, it was a pretty decent stay for sure. Although, since I needed to make sure that dad didn't catch wind of any of my going-ons against Team Magma, I decided to sign myself out 'AMA'. Or I really tried sneaking past the hospital staff. A hard thing to do when they're ever vigilant of their patients.

It wasn't until they disappeared into their lounge, did the opportunity present itself. Although, when it came to pull out the IV….it wasn't the best of experiences.

Once my escape from the hospital was complete, I began to investigate on the whereabouts of any Team Magma activities. The progress for that was incredibly slow. For three days, nothing worthy of taking notice turned up. By the fourth day, I overheard a conversation between sailors about part of a sea route being blocked by a line of wailmers Hm, annoying inconveniences; that sounds like Archie! Maybe I can beat some answers outta him. He's probably holed up somewhere in a secret cave….pfft, nah, he's probably on a pirate ship or something. To the wailmers!

My excitement overflowed at the thought of punching that Magma nerd's face in. I got out Pelipper and went down on the beach. While my wounds healed nicely and wasn't reactive to the saltwater anymore, I still came prepared with extra gauze to wrap and heavily tape around my torso.

For the most part, our trip was a very eventful one. The sun provided a warm atmosphere while its watery counterpart that we floated in, gave us refreshing comfort when the heat was too much. Eventually, when we ventured closer towards the cliffs, my eyes spotted a near line of wailmers. They looked very tame and would sometimes break formation to hunt for food. Welp, time to start making a mess!

Pelipper charged toward the one who made up the line's middle. Then-"Use your aerial ace!"

BAM! She smacked it hard in the face in unrestrained ferociousness. The water-type rolled back several times like a heavy liquid-filled water balloon before stopping to float belly up. Alright….that looks a lot of bit disturbing. Wow, all of the rest of them look really mad. Maybe attacking them wasn't such a good idea.

"GREEE!"

Definitely not a good idea!

Now presuming my course of action to be stupid, I made my Pelipper charge past them. Some of the wailmers decided to follow us, while others barely moved from their spots. The ones that did give chase, failed spectacularly. You see, their round, large bodies prevented them from gaining any speed faster than my battle partner.

Up ahead, I spotted an enormous cave mouth naturally carved out from the rock. That's something you don't see every day. So there is one after all…..let's go towards it! With a plan of that in mind, I directed my seabird with an ecstatic point. She has no complaints complying with what was demanded and turned into its entrance. As far as our tailgates went, they strangely halted at the front of the cave and swam back. Yeah, that was weird.

Despite those thoughts, we pressed ahead until discovering signs that announced the presence of human interference. Things like giant glass tubes with bright orange liquid surging within them. There were two pairs of three lined next to each other on the ceiling that led to what looked like a very tall and wide doo-HANG ON A SECOND!

As we came to the platform, I couldn't help but let surprise daze me when we both found ourselves staring at the intimidating emblem of Team Magma that was decorated in front of the metal doors. Honestly, it's pretty smart to use wailmers to guard the entrance of your lair (although sharpedos work too) to throw off people into thinking it was the other conflicting team. At least I don't have to find out where they are. Although I found it very peculiar as to WHY nobody hasn't discovered Team Magma's hideout yet! Oh well! Better late than never!

I withdrew Pelipper and marched up to the large pair of doors. They began to slowly slide open with metallic creaking upon sensing my presence. Behind them was a set of metal stairs going up. Let's light this candle!

 ***Continued in chapter 32***


	32. Chapter 32

_Hey everyone!_

 _I know its been FOREVER since I posted a thing. Well the thing is so much has happened! Going on trips to Japan, getting a PS4 and getting addicted to FFXV, looking up youtube videos, watching Steven Universe, ducktales, Stranger Things(for the seventh time I kid you not), Working at work, being with family. SOO MANY THINGS! But as I stated, I'm continuing this thing til the bitter end...or I overdose on tons of sugar; whichever comes first. But for now, enjoy chapter 32, and chapter 33 will be done when Blanche13 finished evaluating my work as to prevent blatant plagiarism._

 _Caio for now!_

 **...**

You know when you watch all those adventure or action movies with the bad guy's lair being unnecessarily complicated? How they attempt to stop the hero with booby traps, puzzles and henchmen? This is EXACTLY how it felt! The lighting of this place was normal like an office building, but that's it! Team Magma flunkies walked around and chatted with each other like it was a social event or something!

Pelipper and I moved when they were occupied with their conversations and crept far away enough to avoid suspicion. Its pretty funny how long it took to observe their surroundings in one direction at a time. Does Maxie think that's effective, or is it because his minions are too lazy? I wonder if the security guard working the security cameras is slacking off too, because I'm sure there's a ton here and not a single alarm has been raised yet.

These thoughts were occupying my head as I stole around the main lobby. This place was very big by the way. The walls were a dark grey with its counterpart of the tile being a lighter hue. Just like any lobby, it had comfortable seating of dark brown couches with cherry wood coffee tables nestled in the four corners of the room. By the stairs, was a generous looking vending machine next to a coffee cart. Hanging on the only lone wall, was a large, sleek t.v. screen. While I was curious to wonder why nobody bothered to turn it on, I didn't feel like sticking around long to find out. What really got my attention was a circular, orange-colored thing built into the floor. The appealing factor to it, were the Team Magma henchmen materializing in and out from it. One of them would stand on top of the platform, wait a minute, and then in a beam of light, disappear without a trace. When somebody came in, the beam manifested from the platform and made the person appear. In short, that thing was a teleporter.

Wow; Maxie may be a complete loser, but he can at least make something useful. My turn!

Getting to that teleporter device turned out to be yet another easy task. All it took was a few quick glances and a bold barrel roll. I stamped my feet on the pad with full confidence in the mechanism. Within seconds, my body felt light, along with having my stomach dropped. Uaoh! That was…really nauseating…I feel like throwing up. Fortunately, the urge didn't last long and it felt like my stomach rebounded quite smoothly. Hey! I'm in another room! Man, this sci-fi stuff is awesome!

The new room I was in looked more closer to Maxie's environment; or at least what nerds like anyways. While the color palette and texture was still the same, the room was designed to be more like a lab. Modern machinery consoles curved to make a large circle around a tall, crimson suit. It looked like a cross between an astronaut suit and one of those old deep sea diving suits. Next to the suit was an old scientist who busied himself with staring intently at one of the many glowing screens and buttons of the consoles.

I was forced to venture close because of the next teleporting pad being near by that area. Although, curiosity was beginning to override against my better judgement to move on. His back was fortunately turned to me; effectively blinding his sight to me-

"Not so fast!"

My body immediately froze. Dam it! Now I'm hafta strangle the old man….or maybe just karate-chop him out cold.

"Its always the same with you punks! Trying to scare me by coming up from behind! But its pretty pathetic when you can't keep those noisy shoes quiet at least!"

EH?! So he noticed me right off the bat?! But I'm May Maple! A.K.A the master of stealth! Oh ghritana, my pride hurts!

"Now be off with you before I inform our great leader of your useless stupidity. I'm very busy,"

He waved at me dismissingly without turning around. Epiphany struck me harder than a ton of bricks. While this man could sense my presence, became too comfortable with his need for isolation and discomfort from the young grunts. As a result, he mistook me for an employee instead of an intruder. Hehehe, this guy MIGHT get fired when I'm through with this place!

"M'kay,"

I moved away from the suit, consoles and old man in favor of going onto the teleport pad. One last look at the scene caused a diabolical smile to light up on my face. Invading the base is gonna be a piece of cake.

 **…**

For the next hour, getting around the base was confusing, but otherwise not very difficult. So far nobody caught me; let along grow suspicious of intruders. Although, there were times I jumped on the wrong pad and ended up in the room I was previously in. Finding stuff though, made up for the unintended backtracking.. Obtaining a secret stash of chocolate strawberry flavored camerupt bits had been a highlight.

The only thing that bothered me so far was Maxie being MIA. I'm pretty sure a guy as conceited as him would blare out his presence. Well he did steal a submarine not too long ago. Maybe he's somewhere gloating about it to his stooges. Hmmmm….at least I can make up for it by trashing his base.

Right now, I was in another room filled with office equipment and boxes. Apparently Team Magma wanted to be an EXTRA BORING criminal organization by adding a division akin to a salaryman's workplace. Time to move the next place!

I quickly sought out the next teleport pad (which always seems to be across the room and not next to the other one for some reason) and jumped on. The scene changed, and I found myself in a long hallway. Geez, you'd think think he designed enough of those. But while I didn't get caught yet, proceeding with caution was still a smart thing to do.

My back smacked against the wall to begin sidling along with it. In case anyone came along, I could at least attack first. At the rate my luck was going though, it was safe to say that nobody was gonna come across my path.

As I kept going along the hallway, it became apparent that this was no ordinary one. It only became revealed when its end had turned into…. a room?! The realization shocked me since it felt like I had to walk five minutes to get here! Who in their right mind would want to make a trek like this?! Erm, there's a framed picture of Maxie on one side of the wall and a dartboard with my face on the other. I'm pretty sure Courtney sleeps here.

I cautiously walked in and found it to be empty of the terrible admin. Good; the last thing I needed to have break my stealthy streak was that crazy lady bent on destroying me. From how the room looked, strangely enough, it wasn't as creepy as I thought it would be. There were those two things that I mentioned to indicate Courtney's obscure touches; and upon inspection, a very identical doll version of Maxie lying in a neat bed on its side. Other than that, everything else resembled a normal room. A closet of clothes (only consisting of the same Team Magma attire), a dresser, an office chair parked under a metal desk and a small laptop. Ooooh; a laptop. Maybe Courtney's got some deep, dark secrets in that thing.

Being too eager to pass it up, I moved over to the device and again, made sure nobody was here before going through her digital stuff.

Let's see….no password, sweet! Makes my life easier. Okay, lotsa files here….her desktop background is another picture of Maxie. Hm, this file is called 'enemies to crush'. Wow! There a lot of pictures of me in here. Some include some very close shots of me asleep whenever I camped outside. I don't feel very comfortable about that. Do I want to delete this file? Of course I do! * _Click!*_ Now! Time to look at Maxie's file!

Hmmm, yep. Its pretty much the same as mine; loads and loads of pictures. Just like most of mine, they were taken in secrecy. Geez, Courtney has some real serious prob-

My heart nearly froze. Every thought I had in my head immediately halted. I nearly swore that my eyes were playing a sick joke on me. I can't even begin to describe the shock I felt from that tense moment. There was only very few things that could turn me into a statue of cement. Staring at a young Maxie in a white lab coat with a Team Rocket logo was one of them…..That guy…..he is so dead! I'm going to strangle that scrawny- _BANG! THUD!_

 **…**

….uuugh…my head hurts soooo muuuch...it feels like…somebody hit it with a frying pan. Now that I think about it, what the hell did I do to make it hurt so badly? Hey! Why do I have a hard time breathing?! And my arms and legs feel tied up!

Being in realization of discomfort by my senses, I forced my eyes to open; although it still felt confusing. Everything was in doubles that shifted constantly. Another factor that incurred my headache. Hell, even these voices I was hearing were garbled like low-pitched gibberish. Ugh, trying to think right now is super hard.

I ended up stubbornly using my legs to rise on my knees. They were surprisingly comfortable against a soft rug underneath them. As things finally started clearing up, a new scene came into focus. It looked like I was in a room that was the love child of a bedroom and office. The carpet was a deep burgundy color with the walls being that SAME dark grey color and metallic texture. But yet another hint of contrasting evidence were hung on the wall. People, Pokémon and degrees; all framed around this place in a neat order. A small bed with red sheets folded in a triangle shape had rested on top of the mattress in a corner with a black dresser. On the other side of the room was a small space with tile instead of carpet.

A teleport pad occupied that space along with two pairs of shoes. One of them was mine. The other pair were boots that sobered me up real quick.

I looked ahead; seeing the perfect view of an obsidian-colored desk. Many typical office supplies like tall paper stacks, a stapler, pens and pencils, ect. Sat on top of its space. Mesmerized by paperwork on the other side of the desk was-

"MAXIE!"

The events in which had occurred earlier came back to ignite my rage. I jumped to my feet and realized for the first time that rope had been tied around my torso. HAH! As if something inconvenient will stop me! My legs made a powerful push to make me dive towards the despicable fiend. Already, imaginary sounds of his screams filled my ears.

However, reality made me squeal first.

I was halfway across the room when something yanked me back. My body violently landed against a modern red couch with metal frames; that really hurt.

And after recovering from the failure, I saw that not only had there been a length of the rope tied around one of its legs, but the couch itself was welded to the floor! NRRRRRRRRRRGH! He is really infuriating!

"How curious…" Said the main trigger of my anger. He was casually writing down complex formulas on paper. "I mean, how could anyone just trespass a compound while forgetting about all the security cameras? Although, I should count myself lucky: The intruder was just a nosy, little girl,"

"Bite me Rocket trash! You're so full of shit and hot air! Wait til I get untied; I'll punch you so hard, your thug boss is gonna feel it!"

The leader of Team Magma suddenly stopped what he was doing to lock on in my general direction.

"Bite me, Rocket trash! I found out who you really are! Wait til I get untied; I'll punch you so hard your thug boss is gonna feel it!"

The leader of Team Magma suddenly stopped what he was doing to lock in on my general direction. Ah-haaaah….so I struck a nerve with him, eh? Maybe now I can egg him on into stepping within my range and attack-"Haha…ahahaha!"

Okay, now I'm confused.

Maxie had been incredibly surprised by my comment about his past. His stare was on par with a bewildered magikarp. But in the next moment, he bursted out laughing like a maniac. Hell, that laugh was even creepier than the time we battled on Mt. Chimney!

When he eventually stopped being weird, Maxie got up to open hos filing cabinet. Imbued with slight excitement. All those folders he had in there were extremely organized, thick and bland. It seems that my words sparked some sort of interest, but why? Ugh, its better that I don't think about it too much.

"You really are a clueless, naïve child. Anyone who hasn't been living in a cave knows that Team rocket disbanded years ago. But then…..I guess that says so much about you, doesn't it?"

"What did you say to me?!"

"I'm not in the custom of stuttering or mumbling. Are your ears AND head not working?"

"ARGH! Shut up and fight me!"

"No thank you, Miss May Maple. I'd rather not personally tangle with the daughter of an inexplicably violent gym leader,"

WHAT?! How does he know my name?! More so, how did he know who my dad was?! Either way, I'm sure he know a lot more than that. No wonder he sounded so….peppy….in his own nerdy way.

Meanwhile, Maxie went back to his desk and opened the file to rifle through it. I could only stare in anxiety of what the dork would say next.

"What, no rebukes or smug comments? I thought you were at least smart enough to anticipate what the opposition would naturally do? After all, simply underestimating a viable threat would be my undoing; and that's where Giovanni utterly failed. I may have been his minion at one point in my life, but I never really cared for his savage tactics. Even less for that ridiculous Neo Team Rocket; take over a city or two and they're suddenly considered dangerous,"

Of course Maxie took joy in tearing down my pride as he talked about how stupid I was. It even felt like he belittled all the stuff that happened in Olivine! How can he act so heartless? Can't he just shut up for once?!

"But enough about the past, let's talk more about you,"

"Don't you get tired o hearing yourself talk?"

"No, but I'll bet that you're probably dying for your mother's grilled mackerel and rice, aren't you?"

"….Have you….been to my house?"

And just like that, a cruel smile made itself known on his lips. He had been waiting, just itching to get on the subject. But if that didn't creep me out, the picture that fell off his desk certainly did. It was a picture of me with dad going in the door to my house; the time where mom had been really pissed about Sycamore getting abandoned in the forest.

My skin felt clammy with knots twisting in the pit my stomach all at once. I think….I'm gonna puke. But as I looked up, I could see my enemy taking pleasure in my horror while enjoying a drink. His eyes stared at me very maliciously as he took a sip.

"Oh I have. And its interesting how much you differ from your hospitable mother. Just a pity that you didn't inherit her common sense or elegantness. But don't worry; I prefer studying and observing my opponents rather than using underhanded moves like taking hostages. As devious as you make me out to be, I have standards,"

While this was clearly the LEADER OF TEAM MAGMA telling me that, a feeling of relief eased my chest. Maxie at least was honest about the things he said…..yeah I'm going to need to take a shower for having that opinion. But right now there was the matter of addressing why I'm here.

" So…." I began; showing some annoyance. "Why am I here then? Are you gonna kill me? Experiment on me?...eat me?! Do your worst, nerd!"

That last assumption invoked a laugh from Maxie, and he took nearly a minute to recover from the comedy of my logic. Tch, laugh it up; I'll make sure to hit you extra hard when I free myself. He's so irritating like Archie in his own special way!

"And there it is: The never-ending active imagination that drives the mind of my minor foe! But fortunately for you, I don't feel like putting in that kind of effort. Rather, I can be content in the knowledge of having my enemy captured and being at the mercy of Team Magma!"

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. He's so dam bloated.

"But I think I can spare a moment or two watching you fall into despair! Observe!"

Maxie then reached into his coat and pulled out: A SMARTPHONE! Hang on a sec. Is that a camerupt phone jack on there? Wait, why was he even pulling that out? Did he plan on boring me to death? Well it would be soul-crushing to make me watch that one movie involving sentient emoticons, but it'll take a lot more than that to make me fall into any kind of despair.

"Social networking is such a popular thing to do these days; even I, The Great Maxie have become somewhat enthralled with it,"

He began playing with it while I struggled to untie myself. Maybe if I managed to get loose, I could beat up the nerd while he's off guard and escape. My head turned to the length of rope and latched my teeth onto it. Maxie made no effort in stopping or objecting to it; making me begin to feel that any attempt was futile.

"Ah, here we are! The new trending uploads on MewTube. Have you seen them yet? It might be worth your while,"

" _Plegh!_ What the fuck do I care for?! I don't want to!"

"Are you sure? Take a look,"

"I said-"

The words that were prepared to burst out of my mouth metaphorically (and maybe literally) got lodged in my throat. Whatever dignity I had left, crumbled as my gaze identified a video titled _'Trainers Gone Wild: Lilycove Edition'._ More specifically, it was a clip of me in the Lilycove Department Store going through whatever madness had possessed me.

Just to make matters more humiliating, the horrified look on my face caused an eruption of maniacal laughter; coming from Maxie of course. I turned a bright shade of red. Now I really wish I was watching that terrible movie instead!...okay, maybe not.

"AHAHAHAHA! To think that your hatred towards me ended up serving as entertainment! I think I'll favorite this!"

"…."

"What? No screams or swearing coming out of you yet? I'd thought for sure you would at least settle for calling me a name. Well then….what about this one?"

The source of agony switch to another video titled _'Contest Spectacular Fails'._ This time, I got to witness a clip of me on the stage of Lilycove's Contest Spectacular. I already knew what was gonna happen.

 _"_ _I don't feel so-*RETCHES*_ _"_

There it was! Although, instead of seeing the contents of my breakfast, it was a photoshopped rainbow. Good Arceus! It was even more embarrassing watching myself do it! My enemy however nearly fell over from laughter. Even Courtney wasn't this cruel!

"Stop it you bastard! Aren't you satisfied with your torture already?!"

"Far from it! And if you think I'm out of ideas to torment you with, then be prepared to endure the versions with animals, emoticon faces and parodies! AHAHAHAHAHAHA-" *Riiiiiing! Riiiiiiing-Click!* "Oh, hello,"

The devil was suddenly interrupted by my saving grace in the form of a phone call. I had been spared for the moment and sweated profusely from the agonizing pain of witnessing my social decapitating. Now more desperate than ever, I chewed harder on the rope. It was still too tight.

"Oh? Finished already? Well….I am in the middle of something, but I don't see why I cant push that aside. I'll be there soon,"

Maxie put down his phone and went into his desk cabinets. My teeth were getting tired from only making a small tear in the still sturdy rope that tethered me to the couch. He looked like another matter was occupying his mind, but I'm sure he didn't forget about me.

When the devious Team Magma leader was in view again, my body stiffened in surprise. In one hand was a packet of papers, while the other grasped my pack and pokeball belt. That overconfident smile was plastered all over his face again. Maxie stood up with the packet and left my stuff on his desk before coming my way. Casually tossed it my way; hitting me square the face. That dick. But in a strange turn of events when I recovered from the assault, I took one look at the words printed on the top page and recoiled in disgust.

"A job application?! What sick joke is this?!"

"Oh its no joke; I have Tabitha do things like that for me. By the way, you'll have to fill it out using your mouth of mankey feet,"

A ballpoint pen hit me in the forehead. "HEY! Stop throwing stuff at me you callous bastard!"

"You know, when I first heard about you and your tasteless behavior, it certainly bothered me to no end. I just had a difficult time standing your delinquency…"

"Are you even listening?! Giratina, I hate you!"

Despite my irritable but obvious confession, Maxie didn't react to it like I hoped. Instead, the man wandered back to his desk so he could play with my stuff. Yeah you keep doing that; don't be surprised when I break your arms for messing with my things.

"But each time you kept intercepting me, I began to form a rather bold opinion about your tenacity; that fiery devotion of yours, if you will,"

He unclipped Chirpie's pokeball and examined it like some sort of ancient artifact.

"…..Work for me, May Maple. Despite how annoying your violent nature is, even you can understand the importance of humanity and its need to prosper in the world-

And I'm just gonna stop you all right here for a second….HUH?! Just HUH?! Where the hell was this coming from?! I break into this guy's lair with intent to beat the ever-loving shit outta him, and he offers me a job?! Okay, I'm gonna kinda go back to reality now…..sorta…..

As you would expect, that bombshell of a request he casually spread out left every inch of my brain struggling to think what fucking angle he was going for. Me plus Maxie should equal DON'T PUT TOGETHER! It was surprising that my jaw didn't drop or have my heart stop from the mind-trolling stupor. Although when my brain began to bounce back, a bunch of sentences started being processed to come out of my mouth. Some like:

"….WHAT?! Work for you?! ME?! That's…..that's-"

I never said they were good sentences.

"You'll be starting out on a salary of 1,500 Péni per hour on a ten hour shift. That's four days a week including every other weekend; although you'll be a per diem status with no-"

"HELL NO!"

This time, I was coherent enough to shout at the top of my lungs and grab Maxie's attention. A rare bewildered expression crossed his face as he was broken out of a usual monotone reverie to meet my fiery gaze. I stood up so I could get as close as I could to his desk.

"Don't think you can do whatever you want with me! Yeah I'm tied up in your office with no escape, but I'm still my own person! Sure; you're smarter and older than me, but I'm still May Maple: The trainer who gonna be the world's most awesome trainer ever! And just like my dad, I'll never give in to your fancy bribes! You'll never have me, got it?!"

The anger that sprouted outta me like steam from a kettle simmered down with a heaving breath. I didn't take my eyes off of Maxie's to let him know that I wasn't gonna be some pushover like the rest of his minions. Maybe he'll be finally fed up with me and kill me or something, but who cares? At the very least, I wasn't going down like a coward!

Our gazes were locked on each other: a feeling of wills trying to push one another into submission. An atmosphere of fire tensed up the room. The moment felt like it would have lasted for an eternity…..if my enemy didn't burst out laughing. What a way to undermine a more serious moment.

His laughter continued unabated for two full minutes in near tears. My face flushed with heat and turned a cherry red. By the time he finished, Maxie almost turned purple himself.

"Now there was something I didn't expect today: A silly teenager saying silly things. But as tempting it is to harass you more, something rather important sprang up. And so, we must part ways for now. When I come back however, that job application better be filled out completely and neatly if you ever want to see your Pokémon again,"

"What?! You just said a minute ago that you don't take hostages!"

"Yes, but I prefer to call this 'bargaining'. As in, if you don't do what I say, you'll get absolutely nothing in return. Plus, I'd like to keep my office in one piece when I see it again. I'll lock them in my desk for safe keeping,"

Unceremoniously, he put my stuff back in the cabinet of his desk. Then, straightening himself up, Maxie casually strode away to leave the room. However, my oppressor stopped momentarily; almost out of earshot to say: "And by the way, I expect a minimum of three work references; non-family related,"

"Get the fuck outta here already!"

" I just might stay. That pouting face is perfect fodder for taunting,"

Despite what he threatened, Maxie resumed his exit to whatever he planned on going to. I was alone once more to contemplate what consequences were in store for non-cooperation, and then resumed my escape. From how available the options were, chewing through the rope was the only viable one. Although, being buff enough to flex- break the rope would've been nice. My teeth began again to chew the same tasteless rope. But as I started, the sound of the teleport pad humming made me halt my progress. Maxie's back already? Dam, he didn't play around!

I turned my head to expect sarcastic comments and an overconfident ego. Courtney was here instead.

Oh yes, it was truly the creepmaster herself; vacant stare and all. Why was she here anyway? Did Maxie think girl power would score brownie points? Hm, I can't imagine him doing that. Hang on, she's walking towards me now. "So whaddya wa-EUGH!"

You know in hindsight, I really should've (by now) associated Courtney violence every time we met. Maybe that sudden kick to the jaw will remind me from now on. Speaking of, dammit that hurt!

I fell on my side from the force of her kick; which left my jaw throbbing in pain. But that wasn't enough for her. I then felt the thickness of her boot collide with my very still sensitive stomach. Saliva was thrown up in disgrace. That demon really put injury to Maxie's ins-OH ARCEUS!

Her foot cocked back and smashed against my stomach yet again. This time, putting more effort into inflicting pain. Coming up with a retort was difficult considering how much my brain focused on all the trauma that it and the rest of me was enduring. Only when Courtney appeared satisfied enough with her morbid art, did she stop to drop her vision on my gaze.

"….Hello…."

"*Cough* Fuck you-EUGH!"

"Be quiet please,"

With yet another boot to the stomach, I was prominent to be silent in the face of her yandere-like oppression. The evil incarnate leisurely walked around my injured body; purposely kicking aside the packet of papers. Courtney broke her creepy fixation momentarily to go towards Maxie's desk. Oh shit, she knew where my Pokémon were! The rope chafed my skin as I tried pulled my body free.

*Rattle, Rattle…Rattle, Rattle*

Huh?

*Rattle, Rattle* "…..Locked. Oh well,"

I couldn't help but release a breath of relief that exhaled from my worried lungs. Maxie was a grade 'A' asshole, but was somewhat thankful that he was paranoid enough to take extreme measures. Courtney came back to settle on tormenting me in a physical manner. Bleak eyes searched my face for anything she could use to her delight. She then allowed her hands to reach deep into her pockets to pull out….a chocolate bar? Well she did say she liked chocolate. Tat being said, I didn't enjoy the way she stared at me while opening the candy and enunciating each bite.

In about halfway into it, she stopped and cleared her throat.

"Our Great Leader is still here

…..when he leaves…bye-bye May Maple,"

"…Like I leave?"

"Oh yes….."

Using her other hand, she reached into another pocket and took out two coins. Courtney carefully laid them out on the floor next to me.

"….For your eyes…"

And there it was! It wouldn't be Courtney without the promise of death! Honestly, its not very funny when Maxie leaves me alone with this very obtuse admin. Speaking of her, she knelt down to better intimidate me; or strike me squarely across the face.

This time I shamefully teared up from the pain of infliction. It throbbed annoyingly; ensured that the area would bruise. The vile woman silently stood back up and finally decided to leave me alone for the time being. She even got bold enough to conjure up a very excited smile that accompanied an uncharacteristic skip in her step. It wasn't until I was by myself again, did I curl up in a fetal to cry like a crybaby.

I'm….*sniffles*…..I'm such an idiot!

 ** _*In Roman/Greek funeral pyres, a coin was put on both eyes of the deceased so in the afterlife, they could pay the ferryman to cross the river Styx_**

 ***To be continued in chapter 33***


	33. Chapter 33

Why?

Why didn't I listen to my dad? I shouldn't of volunteered to be a one-man army in the first place! Now I'm gonna die here; die like the coward I said I wouldn't be! The worst part about all of it: Nobody would know except for my personal executioner. She's probably thinking up so many ways to kill me I wish I was more scared like Wally or careful like Brendan. Good arceus…I'll never see Brendan again.

The carpet under me was the only other thing that registered with my sense of touch aside from the torso-binding rope. Everything else had been smothered by a thick blanket of depression. I already went through most of the stages of grief. Well, except for acceptance. That stage would've been much easier to handle if Courtney wasn't the one ushering in my death.

I didn't know how much time passed; not that it mattered to keep track anyway. However long I had been left alone was spent with a runny nose and soggy eyes. To say the word 'crying' would make it worse. Doing all that made me sleepy, but fear prevented my eyes from getting rest. But just when I thought things couldn't get worse, the teleport pad chimed in alarm.

A terrified whimper managed to sneak past my lips, as I prepared my trembling self for the worst. The sound of shoes treading on the carpet grew closer. I hoped at Courtney would make it quick and as less painful as possible; even though yanderes are known for their extremely violent actions.

"…..hm….what do we have here? My hard-headed student in distress yet again? I am beginning to wonder if you are getting yourself captured on purpose,"

An unexpected dialogue of words ignited my will to loosen my tense position and open my teary eyes. It was desperate to want to confirm that it wasn't a hallucination; because if that's the case, then I reached a new level of crazy. How delirious could I get for thinking that he can just casually stroll in here like some walk in the park?! But when I did get trusting enough to see who was really in my midst, my heart throbbed so ecstatically.

I know I shouldn't sound so girly, but there wasn't a word to describe the feelings that made a girl's toes curl or their oxygen leave their bodies. The figure of Professor Augustine Sycamore casually towered over me like this was an everyday occurrence. He had his hands planted firmly on his hips with a smug look.

"P-professor Sycamore?!"

"In the flesh, mon maudit fauter de troubles! Surely you did not expect anyone less worthy of coming to your aid, did you? I certainly hope not: because there are only so many times I could try to imagine that insolent Wally child failing miserably,"

Aaaand he destroyed a pretty content moment. I was ALMOST ready to not be snarky too! Awe turned into annoyance and made me want to immediately escape.

"Okay, whatever. Just hurry up and untie me. I wanna get outta here before somebody finds us,"

"Hmm...you look much cuter all bound up and vulnerable. I might be too tempted to keep my Birdie-"

"Hurry up!" I demanded to the ever joking scientist. Good arceus; he was so difficult to keep on track. As smart as Professor Sycamore was, most of his dialogue consisted of heavy innuendos and fancy, deceptive lies to catch me off guard. Thankfully, he showed no interest in carrying me around and went to untie the thick knot on my back. However, he deemed it important for me to observe the cleavage of his chest while reaching over my body. Pretty stupid since he was essentially straining his muscles on purpose for showing off.

When the professor finally freed me from the rope, it was only natural for me to make a sprint to Maxie's office desk. Unfortunately, I only remembered the evil point dexter locking the drawer after yanking on it several times. UUUUUUUUGGH! AAAAAAAAAAAH!

Flipping over the desk wasn't something planned initially, but I toppled that stupid piece of shit like nobody's business. But taking heavy textbooks from the man's small library and then throwing them at the said desk, probably wasn't the most intelligent decision to make. All I did was put dent in it. But in my defense, all I could think about was trying to open the drawer.

"DAM IT! OPEN! _ ***THUD***_ YOU STUPID _***THUD***_ PIECE OF _***THUD***_ JUNK!"

I didn't know what Professor Sycamore occupied himself with, but it wasn't important enough to care about. He may have slipped past by everyone without being noticed ( or being caught by the camera), but he sure as hell will when I'm with him. Not to mention, he didn't have any Pokémon to help us. But more importantly, leaving my team behind is not a Team Maple thing to do. Just maybe though, there's gotta be something more destructive than thick books.

After chucking the last book, my arms felt tired. Well its only natural that they would be, but I don't have the kind of time to wait for them to feel better. Mngh….Courtney might be back soon. Seeing her creepy face in my thoughts got every injury I sustained to throb and motivated me to think harder-"Professor, what are you doin'?"

Professor Sycamore started moving around and entered my field vision. Going towards the desk, he opened his bag and dug a hard around in its pockets. My head tilted. When the man got near Maxie's desk with a pair of silver picks in his grip. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at his confidence of acting like some secret agent. Nerds are only good for making and learning stuff; not being the jack-of-all-trades.

He knelt down and inserted the picks into the locks like he was 008. I watched with uninterested eyes for a minute; observing how calm he looked while moving those little picks around.

 _*Click,click_ … _.click!*_

The professor stopped and withdrew before standing up. HAH! I knew he was just screwing around- _*kick!*_

The drawer shot up from a light kick to its bottom.

"Wait, what?"

And now I looked like a complete moron after watching my professor casually collect the contents of that drawer. He even took a half empty bottle of scotch. A coy smile graced his face while walking towards me. "So what kind reward will I receive from my beloved student for rescuing her precious darlings? A kiss? A massage? Perhaps a candlelit evening all by ourselves? I am willing to accept all three,"

"How about you kiss my ass?"

*Mwah*

A pair of his soft lips playfully smushed against my left cheek in a gentle, wet kiss. My face bursted into a bright red while a hand immediately swatted him away to grip the affected area. Steam nearly blew out of my ears. "You asshole!" I growled threateningly. "Don't think you can just kiss me wherever you want!"

"Hm? Well you did say you wanted me to kiss a cheek. I assumed that you wanted to save 'that one' for a more private affair,"

"What?! NO! Not anywhere, EVER! Stop twisting my words-"

 _*Mwah*_

" **AAAAAAAAAAAGH! STOP IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!"**

 **…**

I pouted fiercely when Professor Sycamore snuck yet another kiss on the right side of my cheek. But I decided to take my anger out on Maxie's stuff rather than waste any breath yelling at the devious man. For about thirty minutes, I focused on scavenging, destroying and running around the office.

Oh what's this?

Digging through the overturned desk, papers for important speeches or inventions were carelessly thrown out of their drawers when a round object was spotted between them. I kept in mind that getting a chance like this again was slim, so my hand immediately reached for it. When I got ahold of it and pulled a round object out, my brow furrowed in puzzlement. Anyone with a brain could see this was a pokeball, but not any that are sold in shops. This one was purple with an 'M' in its middle. _*Scoff*_ It only confirms how Maxie is so full of it, that he started to name pokeballs after himself! Well its mine now! Imma call it the 'Maple Ball'!

Once I put up my newly named pokeball and was satisfied with the amount of damage, I finally decided to look for the stolen submarine. Yeah, escaping is a much smarter option since Team Magma is actually watching us. Even more so, Professor Sycamore won't like it. Still, there was nobody else those old people can count but me.

At last, we stepped onto the teleport pad when I was satisfied about the amount of vandalism committed. But something strange happened to me.

Whether it was newfound excitement, gratefulness of being rescued or that strange, fluttering beating of my heart, nervous fingers had timidly intertwined with the Professor's own. I barely realized it, but when my eyes caught the action, it alarmed me greatly. My hand got clammy and attempted untangling it; I can only imagine scenarios of Professor Sycamore mocking me for the unusual form affection.

However, his hand kept them in place. Nothing was said of the gesture, and he had some sort of strange smile. Not one that looked like it was to make fun, but some strange contentment; how weird.

Very soon though, I found my relief turning into uncertainty at the fact that someone was definitely paying attention to all the security cameras watching us. Every step down Team Magma's corridors felt suspicious. Sooner than not, there would be small fry coming after us. Taking them on wasn't much of a challenge, but road blocking Maxie before he left was an urgent priority. Explaining that to Professor Sycamore however might be more easier done than said. You think I mean  
the other way around? Heeeeeeell nope! It's tons better to pull him along for the ride first, otherwise he'll just toss me over his shoulder again if I try explaining it to him.

"This way, dear,"

Professor Sycamore's hand pulled mine along; extracting me from my ever plotting thoughts. Good! Now I can take lead to-WOAH!

He gently yanked me onto another teleport pad. It was done in such a way that I landed into him like I hit a brick wall; unfunny to the victim and hilarious to the jester. We got transported before I could properly vent my complaining and landed in a room that I thought would be non-existent.

"A library?"

I blurted it out unexpectedly. A chuckle erupted from my professor's chest. "What? You expected Team Magma to be a rock-dwelling, uneducated group of barbarians?"

"…Yes?"

He had to control himself from laughing harder at my ignorance. I turned red and frowned in disapproval while attempting to free myself. Once he eventually composed, he landed a polite kiss on my forehead. That bothered me further. "Oh do not look so unforgiving! I only mean to lighten the mood of my darling, ruffled Birdie!" he cooed while nudging me to step off.

"Whatever, let's just get outta here. There's something I hafta do,"

I bitterly moved forward; scanning the surroundings of this surprisingly large library. The color scheme was like every other room in this base; edgy and depressing. My skin prickled from the stale, cold air occupying its space. There was thankfully no A.C. being viciously pumped into the air. What had claimed the title as the strangest highlight here were its lights. They illuminated this place from the floor in an eerie scarlet glow. Books, binders and other documents were stacked neatly on the shelves that towered over us like an impenetrable wall-where's the professor?

Realizing that he wasn't by my side had (for once) thrown me into a state of panic. I abruptly turned on my heels and nearly twisted an ankle running down the aisles. But all that worrying suffered in vain upon finding the careless scientist casually turning the pages of a thick binder. Now I was pissed.

"Professor!" I was already tugging at the back of his silk shirt; trying to pull him away from the enticing lure of information. All that did was untuck his shirt. UUUUGRAAAAAAAH!

Now I tried pushing him towards the teleport pad, but I still couldn't budge an inch outta him. "Oh my giratina! What the hell are you doin'?! We're gonna get caught!"

Professor Sycamore FINALLY put the binder neatly away on the shelf, but then started to search for something else to read. When something caught his interest, he politely pulled it out. "If you must know…" He started while opening up a folder. "…I am finding out what suspicious things that tasteless Maxie and his troupe of barbarians are plotting,"

….What?

"Okay, since when YOU of all people ever cared about what Team Magma does?!"

This time, he didn't reply to the matter. Only the sound of pages turning had been the only response I got.

I wanted to interrogate him further, but the sound of multiple, rushing footsteps caught our attention. We turned to one of the other rows and saw three grunts with pokeballs drawn. Oh great, now I gotta get to work. As anyone would expect, the professor stayed carefully behind me while being absorbed in the documents.

"Go Skitty!"

With a quick hand and flick of the wrist, the small cat was summoned as the best choice for this battle. She came out in abounding excitement. But when it came apparent that Professor Sycamore was also with me, the little normal-type had gotten herself worked up with energy. Skitty ran over to him so she could rub her head against his legs and mewed eagerly. He stopped reading for a moment to gently massage behind her ears. Meanwhile, I was left without a Pokémon on the battlefield.

Rightfully so, I made this 'WTF' face at the two who were SUPPOSED to be helping me. The three grunts got their Pokémon out to control the situation. So now instead of subduing the threats, I was now facing a numel, poochyena and zubat by myself. Well I could take out Dustox-AH!

The poochyena bit my foot; trying to tear it off like the animal it was. Naturally, my free foot cocked back and punted the little dog across the aisle. It yelped from the assault, but now got back up to bare its teeth. That mutt has another thing coming if it thinks I'm easy prey! Forget using Pokémon, they're going down My Maple style!

Having that plan in mind comforted my ego, so I began provoking the enemy using a taunt. They all fell for it and gave me chase past the professor and Skitty. You know, I thought Professor would be a tad more concerned about me fighting against Pokémon by myself, but it was nice to not be lectured by him for once. Now time for some anarchy!

I leapt to one of the nearest shelves and pulled out a thick novel about a tedious love triangle for tweens. BOOORING! Perfect throwing material against my enemies! And the first one to go is….that slow ass numel!

My careful precision at the small camel and threw it with all of my might. **BAM!** The object hit it and made the foe stumble back. Alright, critical hit!

"Hey!" One of the grunts shouted angrily at me.

"You're gonna pay for that, kid! It's a 1,200 Péni fine for damaged books and documents!"

"No way Magma dork! I'm not paying a single Péni. Fuck reading and education! Anarchy ruuuuuules! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

In order for me to kick chaos into high gear, I climbed on top of the huge book shelf and took out more of its contents. Throwing them at my three opponents and their owners. You could say I got drunk off of the power from having the upper hand. Speaking of which: one of the Pokémon got knocked out by a fourth volume of an encyclopedia. The poochyena and numel that were left darted back and forth to avoid my onslaught. Dam, they were getting smart. What can I do to fix that?

My brain wracked furiously until a lightbulb went off in my head. Honestly, what I was about to commit wasn't very hero-like or justicy ( if that's a word), but I wanted to stick it to those nerds. This required me to slip through the bookcase to the other side. Professor Sycamore in the meanwhile, picked up another binder to read from the bookcase opposite of mine. Skitty finished rubbing her head on his leg to rest comfortably by his feet. Oh there it is!

I quickly climbed down to run towards my chosen instrument of destruction : A very long ladder. There was a movie about something like this; only its gonna be done on purpose.

The professor had happened to glance up from his reading and saw what I was about to do.

"Birdie! What are y-"

"Maple style! Bookcase tackle of destruction!"

A push off from the legs was all I needed to send me back into the bookcase that I was previously on.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAA-UGH!"

My body collided with the massive shelf. The ladder that accompanied me added unanticipated pressure as the structure began to groan. It tipped back slowly; causing its contents to fall on my opponents as they attempted their escape. The shelf itself knocked against its unfortunate neighbor and had too made it tip over. Pretty much I started a chain reaction that got a whole row of bookshelves to fall over in a heaping mess.

Hah! That's what they get! Mess with Team Maple and you'll get your precious trove of books destroyed! HAHAHAHA-ow….everything hurts.

Not everything went how I envisioned it. When the first bookcase fell, the ladder and I accompanied it. The heavy, wooden tool for climbing nearly crushed me to death. My world was dark from an almost equally heavy binder opened over my vision. Oi, I hope I didn't break anything.

" ***Sighs*** What am I to do? It is always a wonder how you survived your dangerous antics up until now,"

Hearing Professor Sycamore's voice got my sore limbs moving. One of my hands removed the binder thing away before squirming out from under the ladder. In that second, I was snatched up by the waist to pull the rest of me out of the wreckage. Skitty had FINALLY gotten over her infatuation to see how messed up I was. Yeah, you're a little late on doing that!

"Well its called being 'creative'!" I defended while glancing at the binder still in my hand. "You don't get to be like that from reading stuff like: Project Azoth. The name by itself sounds pretty stupi-HEY! Don't snatch it!"

He casually took away my find for inspection. An oddly satisfied smile stretched on his lips. Good arceus, he better not be a fan of that crap and talk my ear off about it. He did that in Mauville while we were in Crooner's Café. If I didn't have any food to satisfy myself with, the café window would've been broken from my body self propelling through it.

Anyway, Professor Sycamore then took a moment to examine every inch of my body and determined that I was well enough to walk. Carefully placing me on my feet and stuffing my find in his bag. What happened next was unexpected, but not surprising at the same time. He snaked an arm around my shoulders to pull me closer and give a very affectionate kiss to the cheek. You handsome prince/ nerd bastard; stop kissing me like that!

"Have I told you that you just may be my most 'favorite' student?"

"Yeah, yea- wait a dam minute! Whaddya mean 'favorite'? You have more students?!"

That satisfied smile transformed back into the plotting one I use to identify him with.

"You DO don't you?! Who is it?! Is it that Gary Oak bitch?! Its him isn't it?!"

He tucked both hands in his pockets while nonchalantly turning away.

"So what if it is? I thought your only Professor was that reckless colleague of mine on Mt. Pyre? And because you sing so many praises of his existence, you have not reason to lecture me about having my own darling pupils,"

"Don't give me that shit! You just called me your student! You better tell me who it right now, pencil pusher!"

"…No. I think I would rather keep you guessing. I find it more interesting to have you in a fit like a jealous lover. Feel free to play a little dirty to liven up my boredom,"

"What?! No! I'm not playing your game! TELL ME!"

"Hmmmm….alright. I will indulge in my secret. But I expect something else in return. What about….an affectionate kiss from my ruffled, little Birdie?"

"…..You know what? I don't think I need to know that bad. So quit wasting our time in here! Let's go!"

 **…**

I decided it was better not to press the mystery surrounding Professor Sycamore's student's. His price for an answer was too high. What's that? You say a kiss is a small expense that yours truly can afford? Well, let me explain something to ya: Professor Sycamore is like a siren. Ones that are NOT the nice, kid movie versions. He's the version where they lure you in with their good looks, charisma and promise of living in a beautiful, large castle. In reality, you're stuck in a dungeon cage going down to the depths of hellfire and DEATH!...or at least he'll just do something bad.

Although, he didn't have to come save me. And I was getting pretty worked up over him having other students. Professors can have as many as they want! My heart's pounding way too much. UGH! Maybe foiling Maxie's plans will make me feel better.

Using Skitty ( by some miracle) as the Pokémon of choice, the three of us charged through the hideout like tauros in a china shop. Because of her small size, Skitty was able to dart around more quickly than our enemies. On top of that, she was a normal-type with fairy-type attacks.

Using fairy-type attacks were handy because most of Team Magma's Pokémon were made up of poochyena or mightyena. In layman's terms, dark-types were weak against fairy-types. You'd think they would use more numels since they were, ya know, TEAM MAGMA. Whatever makes me victory easier though.

We were currently in the lounge area again; this time with grunts coming at us to crush our opposition. Actually let me rephrase that: they came quickly to crush 'my' opposition. Professor Sycamore was left unmolested for whatever reason. Personally, I think he's got some sort of blackmailing system all set up. Or maybe it was that shoe polishing tip he gave to that guy named Bob over there. At any rate he sat peacefully on the couch with that open binder. Had it been anyone else I knew, they would've gotten their sofa lifted and thrown against the nearest wall. I let him be so he wouldn't tease me about the previous subject in the form of seductive whispers in my ear. The thought of it made my face red.

"Skitty! Use your disarming voice!"

My pink cat stood on top of the coffee tables she jumped on for height advantage against a numel and poochyena. She heard my order and opened her maw to blast out airwaves of hearts, notes and possibly glitter. Both of her opponents flew backwards to land on the other lounge chairs. The poochyena from the mixture of sugary symbols, but the numel stood its ground and spat out fire in revolt. Its ball of flames bursted on contact with everything it touched….including Skitty's face.

I was in shock as she cried out in pain and fell off the table. The numel clumsily went towards my battle partner to inflict more pain upon her. Unfortunately for the numel, Skitty recovered from the assault. She then proceeded to return her opponent's favor by swiping it across the face using her sharp claws before pouncing on it. They were rolling around violently around the lobby floor; knocking almost every piece of fixture their battle came to.

Skitty finally got the advantage once they slowed down. Several bites to the torso and scratches to its features eventually down the fire/ground-type.

The grunts that tried to beat me took back their Pokémon and fled the room with a voiced resolve that I would be stopped. Yeah right; with how lousy they battled, I doubt any of these dorks can stop me….well except maybe that one girl I met in Fallarbor Town. Just thinking about her got me sweating profusely. At least she wasn't skin crawling inducing like Courtney. Anyway, let me collect my pink cat baby.

She came back to me for a quick recognition of trainer praise. Mewling excitedly from her compliments of resilience and bravery. But then she returned to Professor Sycamore with tail-wagging anticipation. Skitty climbed up the small couch with her little paws to jump in his lap; burnishing her face against his chest. If there's one thing certain, it was her everlasting devotion to my professor. He on the other hand, would barely react to her need for attention like he used to in the beginning. It almost looked like she was nothing more than in animated pillow to occasionally fluff ( or pet in this case) while he occupied himself with reading. He is the perfect example of a drug. Excitement at first taste, but once the victim starts needing more, the drug makes them tolerant and have them start suffering from withdrawals. At least that's how I think drugs work. Fuck if I know from random education videos in Rustboro City.

When he eventually looked up from his binder to see my narrowing eyes, his perfectly white teeth slowly showed in a seemingly welcome smile. "What seems to be the matter, dear? Are you getting more jealous? Maybe of you were to sit with me, I could rub away all those terrible worries. Come, come, do?"

"Some of us are kinda busy cleaning up gangsters at the moment! Maybe it would go faster of someone on this team would go help find a way to the stolen sub! Maxie's gonna be leaving in that for some old prophecy thing,"

Professor Sycamore's mouth drooped down in dismay and surprise. A hand had held down Skitty's back. She mewled in confusion.

"A submarine? Darling, I must implore you how much more important it is to leave this deplorable place! I have already indulged in your wishes for far too long!"

"Yeeeeeeeaah, no thanks. Sides, Maxie clearly needs an ass-kicking to get that common sense circulating back in his brain…no matter how much I might hit him with a metal bat to get it done. I've got old people counting on me,"

Professor Birch's goofy expression flashed through my thoughts. He's still on Mt. Pyre with them. If. Team Magma had any unfinished business up there and visited him or the old couple again, it wouldn't go very well. Of course Professor Sycamore didn't know this, but I was reluctant to tell him that his colleague had essentially turned a blind eye to my activities so he could have some compensation.

At this point, the professor quickly put away his binder and stood up cautiously. He had Skitty secured in his arms. There was this feeling that he kept her as an incentive for me to stay. PPPFT! As if I, May Maple will be stopped by that!

"Darling…." He began while taking a step closer towards me. His voice became less animated and more softer. It was designed to both calm the senses and manipulate his intended victim.

"Clearly you are driven by noble efforts, BUT these antics have lasted long enough. Now cease your unruly behavior and come to me at once!"

I briefly glanced behind me and saw a teleport pad. Good; now if I can outrun him, then I'll be home-free.

Silence was between us as we locked gazes. Professor Sycamore instantly picked up what I was planned and inched further to intervene. But from the second he put his foot down, my body practically twisted around and leapt onto the device. My pursuer loosened his hold on Skitty and tossed her in my direction as a means for a distraction. Well she did land on my back with claws hooked on and all, but it did nothing to stall my victory as I fell on the teleport pad. The expression of surprise was the last thing I saw on Professor Sycamore's face before teleporting away.

Hah! Not so smart now, aren'tchya?! Now….where am I? Oh right, a place with more teleport pads. One of these guys could take me where the sub was, but I needed to throw of the professor first. Hmmmmm, what should I do- aw shit, too late!

Just as I scrambled off the pad, Professor Sycamore materialized almost immediately; wearing intent to whisk me away at all costs. AH! He really looks pissed too! Time to get the hell outta dodge!

I went ahead without thinking to jump on the next one, then the next one, and then the next one and th- "There she is! Stop right there, kid!"

Uh-oh.

Upon appearing, I found myself confronted by five magma grunts. After Maxie told me about someone actually paying attention to the security cameras, it wasn't so surprising to see a bunch of them confront me at once. Skitty ( who had still been latched onto my shirt), fell off and darted around my legs to face our enemies. They pulled out their pokeballs in obvious need to stop me. Wait, five Pokémon at once? I can handle three for sure, but five sounded like a tall order-

"GO POOCHYENA!"

"GO POOCHYENA!"

"GO POOCHYENA!"

"GO POOCHYENA!"

"GO POOCHYENA!"

Nevermind, Skitty, can easily wreck these little things.

All five dark-types slowly surrounded my small, pink cat with caution. She was aware of the growing danger, so she kept every part of herself close. Her senses detecting what her eyes could not.

Honestly, I wasn't sure at first if I had caught a blind cat, because she had never opened her eyes. One day, there would be a chance to see what they looked like (apparently skittys just open them halfway). My inward fear imagined me looking into a gateway to hellfire and brimstone; the natural equivalent of sucking out someone's soul. But even if I knew that was the case, I was sure she wouldn't bring herself to subject me to that kind of torment. We finally got some sort of peace between us. At any rate, maybe she'll open them up on them.

Suddenly, they all came upon her; armed with open jaws or outstretched claws. Skitty jumped on the first poochyena closest to her and used her teeth to grip on the extra skin of it's neck. She swung her body around with the victim in tow smack the other two away. Upon impact, Skitty released her hold so the captive would crash into its companions. The Team magma grunts were surprised in addition to feeling duped about their slaughter by a cat.

The three got back up as the other two attacked

Skitty rolled on her side to escape the first assault, but the second snapped its maw shut on her tail.

The moment she felt teeth sink into her flesh, every pink hair stood on end. A monstrous shriek nearly blew out my eardrums. My cat suddenly turned her body and viciously slapped her foe with her paw; having four sharp claws extended in the process. Skitty has been into plenty of battles that roughed her up than more times than I can count. Some of those fights made me bear witness to fits of rage when someone decided to touch her 'forbidden spot'. No, I'm not talking about sex ed. It's a place where every Pokémon hated to be handled. Chirpie, for example, is a patient, tolerant firebird; but he'll turn on a dime if his long, tan feathery down is purposely yanked. Some Pokémon are more forgiving than others, but Skitty wasn't the type to let you off so easy.

Back to the battle, she bombarded her opposition using a series of swipes and snapping of her sharp jaws. When the offending poochyena fainted from the abuse, Skitty didn't hesitate about sinking her claws into the next victim's back. The three dark-types that were knocked back earlier got up to assist their friend. Skitty screamed a wave of bright pink torment right in their faces. They ended up over the railing and into the salty sea water. Good arceus, I almost wanted to stop her!

Thankfully, Skitty knew the difference between defeating and maiming, and angrily glared down her last opponent into submission. A few of the grunts dove after their felled battle partners when the battle ( gang-up) was over. The ones that stayed tilted their heads in disbelieving confusion. Anyone could tell how lost I looked while staring at my Pokémon. Seriously; spoiled, Sycamore Skitty had gotten more violently unpredictable than all of the other episodes combined! Yeah, everything I said about her was true, but is she really trying to take things up a notch?!

When she deemed it safe enough to let her guard down, my Skitty let out pitiful whimpers while coming towards me

She had this sad look in her face that I suspected was a tactic to have me shower her with affection. The mischievous thing even waved about her tail to provide evidence! Despite being the attention seeker she was, I am responsible for her well being. Better go stroke the ego.

I bent down to fulfill her desire by affectionately scratching behind her ears. Awww….Skitty's purring is kinda cute…..hm, wait a minute….I'm at a harbor!

While it should've been obvious, I just now found out that the teleport pad to us to Team Magma's secret harbor. The area looked well used with tons of metal containers neatly arranged in groups of five that were scattered around. A large construction crane built on the edge of the harbor was in the process of getting rusty like the metal of the railings and faded chrome flooring. It was a huge place thanks to its spacious cavern overhead. How long has this base existed?

Pondering on those thoughts got curious eyes to wander around the strange place. I got back up to explore further in Team Magma's strange harbor. Skitty quietly walked right behind me so we could keep an element of surprise. It was plan to fight dirty since they pulled some underhanded tactics first. But as my Pokémon and I went more in, we began to realize that there was no one around to see; much less battle me.

I'm starting to get bored from all this wandering around. Maybe there wasn't anything else here? Or maybe Maxie already left. If any of those things were the case, I should leave to get the keystone co-"GOOD ARCEUS!"

Upon turning a corner, a hand suddenly clamped on my wrist to pull me towards the rest of the body. My heart would've made it to my throat if it wasn't attached. I used my free hand in a frenzied attempt to karate-chop the assailant, but they quickly secured it.

"LETGOOFMEYOUSONOFA-…..oh….hi Professor,"

Staring into the professor's unamused gaze made me realized how annoyed he became. And with a moment's hesitation in balance, Professor Sycamore used his left leg to trip me off balance so my weight could be at the mercy of his arms. A clever effort in order to prevent a struggle when throwing me over his shoulders a he did in that moment. Dammit Professor! You know how hard it is for me to fight you like this!

"Put me down! I want vengeance and justice!" My voice screeched while pulling at his shirt in protest. Professor Sycamore couldn't help but let out a dry chuckle. He kept a tight grip on me as he moved around quietly.

"I am afraid that I will have to deny your request. You see, it boils down to the simple fact that I cannot trust my naïve bird to keep herself away from harm. Furthermore, I hardly believe a silly little girl can understand the concept of 'vengeance' and 'justice',"

"UGH! Fuck you then! Help me out Skitty!"

"*Meow*"

"Dammit Skitty! Stop being all soft and nice to him! I'M the one who's your trainer!"

Just watching her lovingly follow the professor got me more furious. Whenever he stopped to scan his surroundings, she'd continue her face nuzzling just like always. This time, Professor Sycamore didn't acknowledge her needs; he remained diligent to the task at hand. Skitty began mewling and trying to get his attention with walking around him; exactly like a hopeless addict. Watching the scene was almost sad.

But with that and my brooding continuing on, I nearly missed a passing scene if my eyes hadn't looked up from turning a corner.

From the excellent lighting of the harbor, I witnessed a large submarine parked at the harbor's metal dock. My mind lit up in epiphany from seeing similarities in size with Captain Stern's own model. Its physical appearance however, completely contrasted. Whoever was in charge of decorating the thing either really loved Team Magma to a 'T', or had a thing about camerupts, because the paint job was in an eerie likeness of one big, floating camerupt. At least whoever did it took time and effort in getting the details down.

Nice as it was, the small group of people gathered at the dock is what really snagged my attention. Maxie's stiff figure stood out by the ramp leading up to the sub, while Courtney's stood close by his. The grunts were either listening to whatever was coming out of their leader's mouth or moving towards the watercraft. I want to crash their party so bad!

"Wait Professor! Maxie's literally right over there! You seriously hafta put me down now!"

Professor Sycamore stopped to see what I was going on about for a brief second, and then continued on his way as if he didn't see anything interesting. What the hell?! I struggled for freedom again. "Professor! They're all over there! Where are you going?!"

He ignored my demands and hid behind one of the containers instead; quickly letting me down to slap a hand over my mouth. "Hush now…" He whispered while a finger was held to his lips. "I think you have had enough excitement for today, Birdie. Now stop this nonsense and listen to me for once; your reckless bravado is going to be the death for the both of us,"

Well, he kinda had a point about it being the death of us; actually it'll be more like the death of 'me' since I'm faster than him. I softened my features and moved my face away from his hand. "Oh professor….I guess you're right. Maybe it would be better to just leave so we can go to a hotel to get….warm or somethin',"

This really got the Professor's attention, because he suddenly looked away in thought with his face turning red for a second. He then looked back at me with a suspicious, but obvious glint in his eyes. Yeah, he was clearly more of a danger to me than Team Magma will ever be.

" ***AHEM*** Y-yes of course! I am certain that this whole ordeal had drained you! Let us be off then, yes?"

He turned to dig into his neatly organized bag.

 **…**

At the Lilycove Hotel, its t.v. addicted manager had finished checking in a group of people in one of the seaside suites. Apparently they were part of some gaming company called…er Gamefreak? Gobfrack? Nah, he couldn't remember. He had trouble recalling because of the wobuffett quiz show that was on. Watching. Pokémon compete intellectually proved to be a refreshing twist on battling- ***ding***!

"Eh?"

The manager got pulled out of his enjoyment by the sound of work. He reluctantly turned around to face his new customer.

"Uh…can I help you?"

Standing dripping wet on the lobby floor and in clear discomfort, was an impatient Professor Sycamore and freezing May Maple. The manager quickly stole a glance at the digital clock. It had just changed to in their right minds would be near the water this time of night?!

"Oh yes! This apparently seems to be the only reasonable hotel vacancy here! May I inquire for a room?"

"Sure pal, but the suite's the only room left,"

"Yes, yes! That will be fine! Today seems to call for me to pay steep costs at any rate! Is that not right, Miss Maple?"

She kept her mouth shut tightly to form a bitter line on her face.

 **…** **..**

 **Meanwhile….**

I managed to get all of my papers in my bag this time while preparing to leave Mt. Pyre. WHEW! Finally! I can go home, act like a professor to May and resume nudging Brendan to be a man and marry the girl already! The old couple Razor and I were staying with, packed a small meal for the journey back.

After May left, they seemed worried over the fact that a teenager would be 100% committed on her promise to bring back the stolen orb. My future daughter-in-law is capable of doing a lot of things, mind you. It was more about having JUST met her. Nevertheless, they were right on asking her; May's a pretty tough girl for her age.

After we said our goodbyes, I took to the misty path downward at a steady pace. Maybe wearing sandals is still a bad idea. Then again, it would make the trip back home worth it. Kicking back in the recliner with the wife handing me a bowl of bulgori. Brendan would talk about what he's been up to ( and hopefully how his date went) while he was on the road.

I had to swipe my nose in pride from the haggle deal with May. A little hard for anyone to believe, but I've been plotting for those two to get together ever since I laid eyes on her as an infant. One look on that adorable, pudgy, drooling face and I knew it was meant to be! She looked too cute clinging onto her scary-eyed dad. Now if you'll just play your cards right, Brendan, May'll be swooning over you in no time.

While planning out the eventual succession of grandchildren in my head, my pokénav suddenly started ringing. Oh, speak of the devil himself; its Norman! I clumsily answered the device.

"Hello? Norman?"

"Hello Albert. Its been a while,"

"It certainly has! How've ya been?"

Normally he would say doing alright or bored out of his mind from the dull routine he had gotten used to. This time, an annoyed sigh came out from the opposite end,"

"….I hate your idiot Kalosian colleague, Albert. No particular word can properly describe the immense hatred I feel for that man. That home wrecker spent one night, and turned my wife and child against me!"

"Are you sleeping on the couch?"

We were both familiar with our cushy furniture seats, but for different reasons. Norman got his wife mad for violent reasons. I got my own wife angry because of my….escapades.

I'd thought for sure that she'd strangle my neck with her bare hands after I accidentally drove the car into the house. Weeeeeell, back to the subject on hand.

"Don't you think you're overreacting? Sure he's pretty sheltered and not used to be out in the countryside, but he's a pretty decent guy to be around. You should stop being paranoid all the time. It's not like he's kidnapping your daughter,"

"Albert…I'm going to call you back. ***click***!"

Ugh, there he goes again. As a best friend, it was my job to be honest with Norman and keep him in line. With that being said, it was exhausting work. I guess having some R and R will hafta wait. Does May deal with this constantly too? Probably not as much as-

" **OH MY GRITANA! NORMAN'S GONNA LILL ME!"**

Fear suddenly gripped in realization: I let May dive headfirst into a place where a bunch of evil fiends live! Oh arceus! Oh arceus! Norman's gonna find out and my future-daughter-in-law will point me out as the enabler! I gotta-I gotta- ***riiiiing***!

Hearing my pokénav's ringtone made me almost jump outta my skin. Oh arceus, its him!

And without thinking, I threw the device as far I could to get rid of it,"

 ***HUFF*** …. ***HUFF*** ….wait, was that even a good idea **-*BANG***!

 **…**

"Darn! Dad didn't pick up. Oh well; I guess I'll just hafta surprise visit him. Let's go Kippie!"

 ***Continued in chapter 34***


End file.
